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May 20, 2008 6:17 pm US/Mountain
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Boulder Woman Killed In Hit & Run, Suspect Caught
LONGMONT, Colo. (AP/CBS4) ―
Law enforcement authorities said they have arrested the suspected driver of a vehicle that allegedly struck and killed a 19-year-old Boulder woman and fled the scene.
The Colorado State Patrol says the collision occurred about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday as Cerridwyn Ursula-Lujan was walking across U.S. Highway 287 north of Longmont. Another vehicle may have been involved.
Officials said Jeremy Raisch, 34, of Windsor, failed to stop and render aid, and drove away instead.
Ursula-Lujan was airlifted to Denver Health Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Colorado State Patrol said they had been getting tips all day, but Raisch turned himself in Tuesday.
Police said after the first vehicle, allegedly driven by Raisch, hit Ursula-Lujan, a Good Samaritan stopped and tried to help her. He said she was then hit by a second vehicle that also fled.
"He apparently saw her lying in the roadway, turned around to help her, at which point she was hit by another vehicle," said Miller.
"It looks, through the course of the investigation, that the vehicles approached this individual and tried to take evasive action, but still struck the individual," Trooper Gilbert Mares with Colorado State Patrol said. "But they should have stopped and rendered aid."
Police said the first vehicle that hit Ursula-Lujan appeared to be a Nissan of some type based on parts found on the highway. Raisch was operating a black 1999 Nissan Pathfinder. Investigators believe Raisch may have tried to avoid Ursula-Lujan, but then didn't stop after hitting her.
Raisch was not injured. He was transported to the Boulder County jail and was booked on charges of failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
Ursula-Lujan had recently completed her general education degree. Before that she had spent about two-and-a-half years at Boulder High School where music teacher Katherine Mason said she was an enthusiastic student of the violin.
"She actually had a special scholarship from a Native American tribe from which she was descended who bought her a very nice violin because she liked it so well," Mason said.
Teachers say she was extremely well-liked.
Police said alcohol may have been a factor on the part of Ursula-Lujan. Toxicology reports are pending.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)