Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.
QUESTION: What was the outcome of the hit-and-run on Winding Way last year?
Submitted by: Les, Sacramento
ANSWER: Steve Hernandez, 38, was arrested in July in the March 22 hit-and-run that killed Paul Pellandini and injured his friend William Collins on Winding Way in the Arden Arcade area.
Hernandez was arrested by Sacramento police officers investigating a stolen vehicle report. CHP investigators had identified Hernandez as the driver in the Winding Way hit-and-run, but were still trying to locate him when he was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, receiving stolen property and for an outstanding warrant for a 2010 hit-and-run collision in North Sacramento.
During an interview with CHP investigators at the Sacramento County Jail, Hernandez admitted to being the driver at the time of the Winding Way hit-and-run, according to the CHP.
About 5:45 p.m. March 22, Pellandini, 57, and Collins, 54, were talking at Pellandini's home on the north side of the 1500 block of Winding Way. They were standing next to Collins' vehicle when a westbound vehicle on Winding Way traveled onto the shoulder and struck the men.
Both were thrown into the air and landed on the right shoulder of the road. Pellandini died at the scene. Collins was hospitalized with major injuries but survived.
Hernandez remains in jail charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence and felony hit and run with death or permanent serious injury. His next court date is Feb. 20.
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