Man arrested after reportedly hitting woman with car and leaving her in the road
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CHUBBUCK – A 36-year-old man was charged after he reportedly hit a pedestrian with his car and left her in the road.
Axel Gustavo Ruiz-Villa was charged with felony leaving the scene of an injury accident.
On Feb. 2, around 6:07 p.m., an officer with the Chubbuck Police Department responded to a hit-and-run involving a pedestrian in the area of 4100 Yellowstone Avenue, according to court documents.
When the officer arrived, a woman was “laying on (her) side in the middle of the roadway, covered by a blanket, surrounded by several individuals.”
According to the officer, the woman was about 12 feet north of the crosswalk on the north side of the intersection.
The officer identified the surrounding people but could not get a response from the person on the ground. Eventually, the officer learned the woman’s name from people in the area.
A witness told the officer he had been doing a U-turn on Yellowstone Avenue when he saw the woman and swerved out of the way to avoid hitting her.
The man said he saw what was later identified as a white 2007 Dodge Nitro driving northbound in the middle lane that “didn’t slow down at all” before running a red light.
Court documents say the Dodge hit the woman, and the witness said it left behind a “large piece of plastic” from the front passenger side wheel well.
The woman was taken to Portneuf Medical Center and sedated, so the officer was not able to interview her at that time.
The officer obtained traffic camera footage showing the incident, where they could see the Dodge take the westbound on-ramp to Interstate 86 after the crash.
Officers identified the specific vehicle after finding two car parts at the scene that had part numbers on them.
On Feb. 4, the officer was told the victim was still sedated and in the ICU at Portneuf Medical Center. The condition of the woman is still unknown.
The same day, a Power County Sheriff’s deputy contacted the officer, saying he found the Dodge parked at a home in American Falls.
According to the deputy, when he examined the car, he noticed “blood and a broken windshield.”
The deputy sent photos of the car to a detective with the Chubbuck Police Department. He confirmed it was the same car and set it up to be towed.
The deputy went to the house with an Idaho State Police Trooper.
The residents said their cousin arrived on Feb. 2, around 7 or 8 p.m. According to the family members, they “had not seen him in years.” He showed up and told them something hit his windshield on the interstate, and asked if he could park his car at their house.
They identified their cousin as Ruiz-Villa, and said he worked in Aberdeen. The car was taken to the Chubbuck Police Department.
The trooper found Ruiz-Villa and brought him in for questioning.
According to the trooper, Ruiz-Villa described the accident in the car on the way to be interviewed. He answered more questions when they arrived and drew a picture of how the accident allegedly occurred.
According to police reports, Ruiz Villa drew a line saying he drove from Ross Dress for Less and turned right to go north on Yellowstone Avenue.
He says he approached the intersection where the incident occurred and a black truck made a U-turn and cut him off.
Ruiz-Villa said he “was upset and cussing out the driver of the black truck and looking toward the truck because of what he had just done.”
He then told police he “thought something fell out of the back of the truck and hit his car” he thought was a “large Culligan water jug.”
He told the officer he was scared because he didn’t have a license, so he left.
Ruiz-Villa said he didn’t look back, never saw a person in the crosswalk, never believed he hit anyone, and only saw the black truck “making an unsafe U-turn in front of him.”
He explained he also normally wears glasses but had not been wearing them that night.
Ruiz-Villa was booked in the Bannock County Jail on a bond of $50,000. He is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on March 6.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
Though Ruiz-Villa has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.