MOUNTAIN VIEW — A Campbell man was arrested after he allegedly struck a pedestrian with his vehicle, then fled before police arrived, authorities said.
Around 7:15 a.m. on Sunday, Mountain View police were sent to a reported hit-and-run collision at the intersection of Amphitheater Parkway and Joaquin Road, authorities said. There, they found a pedestrian in the roadway with severe injuries.
The pedestrian later died at a hospital.
Officers found the driver who had fled “a short distance away,” according to the Mountain View Police Department. The driver was identified by police as 42-year-old Erick Barrios.
Barrios was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of murder, felony hit-and-run, felony driving under the influence and an outstanding warrant, authorities said.
A potential murder charge against a DUI driver in California can occur using what is known as a Watson murder theory, which is applied to defendants with prior DUI convictions. The theory asserts that because they are required to undergo court-mandated education about the dangers of drunken driving, any subsequent violation is viewed as the person knowingly engaging in deadly behavior.
Two DUI murder cases have been filed by Santa Clara County prosecutors in the past six months — the first in August against a driver in a crash that killed a San Jose community service officer, and another earlier this month involving a driver who hit and killed a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Gilroy.