By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A 29-year-old Del Rio man died after he was struck by a vehicle early today, and the driver of the vehicle has been arrested and charged with a felony offense, police said.
In an interview with The 830 Times, Del Rio Police Department Capt. Hubert Smith, who heads the department’s criminal investigations division, identified the deceased as Benito Omar
Calvillo.
Smith said the DRPD’s dispatch center received a 9-1-1 call at 6:35 a.m. today from a person driving in the 1700 block of U.S. Highway 277 in far south Del Rio. The passerby reported a person lying in a concrete drainage channel on the east side of the highway.
Smith said patrol officers found Calvillo’s body when they responded to the 9-1-1 call. Smith and other police detectives and evidence technicians joined the patrol officers at the scene a short time later.
“As we were looking at the scene, it looked like possibly it was a motor vehicle accident. One of the things we were looking at is a lot of debris, plastic vehicle parts, that were left at the scene, and that gave us some insight to think that this could possibly be a hit-and-run,” Smith said.
Smith said some parts of vehicles, like fenders or headlights, have identifying numbers on them that can be linked to specific makes and models of vehicles.
“All of the vehicle parts were black, so we determined the vehicle was black in color,” Smith said.
He said detectives were able to use the department’s license plate reader technology to determine the vehicle in question was a black Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Smith said detectives then were able to obtain the address of the registered owner.
“We went to the address, but the vehicle was not located, so we asked for our patrol officers to help us out, and they canvassed the area. They found the vehicle at a different address, in the 300 block of West Third Street. After locating the vehicle, they found that it had front end damage on the right side quarter panel,” Smith said.
“The detectives made contact with the driver of the vehicle, and they explained they were investigating an accident, a collision, and she immediately placed herself at that scene, initially saying she had struck a deer,” Smith added.
Smith said detectives arrested the driver following the interview.
The arrested person was identified as Karen Aida Hernandez, 30, a resident of Del Rio.
Smith said Hernandez has been charged with the offense of collision involving personal injury or death, a second-degree felony.
Smith said detectives believe Hernandez’s vehicle struck Calvillo about 5:30 a.m. today. He said Hernandez was returning to Del Rio from her work place in Eagle Pass. He added there is no known connection between Hernandez and Calvillo.
Smith said Calvillo’s body has been transported to the Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office in Laredo for an autopsy to formally determine the cause and manner of death.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
