ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 14NF5122
Date: July 22, 2015
FULLERTON, Calif. – A driver was sentenced today to three years in state prison for killing a bicyclist and fleeing to Mexico to repair his vehicle. Junior Rigoberto Lopez, 31, Buena Park, pleaded guilty April 16, 2015, to one felony count of hit and run with death.
At approximately 9:00 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2014, Lopez was driving his Ford F-150 pick-up truck traveling northbound on Magnolia Street in Anaheim. He approached the intersection of Magnolia Street and La Palma Avenue when he crashed into 44-year-old Daniela Palacios, who was riding her bicycle. Instead of stopping to assist the victim or calling 911, Lopez failed to remain at the scene or render any aid to the victim and fled the scene. The defendant sustained damage to his pick-up truck consistent with colliding with a person riding a bicycle. The Anaheim Police Department (APD), who investigated this case, also found broken pieces of a front grill and headlights at the scene of the crash. Continue reading