A 41-year-old Ceres man was arrested by police Thursday 23 days after he allegedly ran over a pedestrian and leaving him in the road dying before fleeing the scene.
The investigation into the Tuesday, Sept. 29 evening death of Isaac Ishak, 56, led police to tracking down Roy Joseph Vasquez Jr., 41, of Ceres. The arrest was made at a home in the 2400 block of Glendale Avenue in Modesto. Vasquez was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of hit and run resulting in death, forging/altering a vehicle registration, driving on a suspended license for DUI, and failing to have insurance.
Pedestrian Isaac Ishak, 56, of Ceres was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
According to Ceres Police Traffic Officer Freddie Ortiz, the crash occurred at 7:14 p.m. When police arrived the victim was lying in the northbound number one lane of Mitchell Road just south of Whitmore Avenue. Witnesses said that a dark-colored van, possibly a Dodge, was northbound on Mitchell Road and drove into the two-way left turn lane to pass vehicles stopped for the red light. The van entered the crosswalk at the precise moment Ishak was walking across. The driver stopped and got out to see what he struck and got back in the van and left the scene by driving across northbound lanes of Mitchell Road to make an eastbound turn onto Whitmore Avenue.
Witnesses described the driver as a Hispanic man of thin build in his early 30’s, with short hair wearing a white tank top. Witnesses stated the van had a shattered windshield and a missing rearview mirror on the passenger side.