A 911 call led police investigators to an SUV suspected of hitting and killing a DU student — and to the driver who was allegedly behind the wheel, police said today.

Andrew Simpson, 45, was arrested Monday night after police received a tip about a suspect vehicle — a Jeep Cherokee with front-end damage — in the case, said Sgt. Michael Farr, of the Denver Police Department’s Traffic Investigations Bureau.

Simpson was being held at the Denver jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide and failing to report a fatal accident, Farr said.

On Thursday, University of Denver graduate student Masoud Bahramisharif was struck as he walked his bike across the street near the DU campus. Police have said that the SUV that hit him ran a red light.

Bahramisharif, 24, died. Police were looking for a Jeep with possible front-end and under-carriage damage.

Monday at about 9 p.m. Aurora police received a 911 tip about a Jeep in the 1600 block of Hanover Street, Farr said.

Denver detectives checked out the Jeep and found that the damage to it was consistent with a vehicle that hit a human, Farr said.

Dozens of people witnessed the collision and its aftermath as the driver sped off with the bicycle caught in the SUV’s grille.

Police found the bicycle the next morning near the intersection of South Colorado Boulevard and East Amherst Avenue.

The vehicle believed to have been involved in the incident, a 2007 Cherokee, was discovered behind a brick three-story apartment building at 1641 Hanover St. and was towed from the lot at about 1 a.m., according to neighbors.

Wayne Gardner, who lives on the block, said several people spent the day at an apartment of a resident who lives in a garden-level unit on the back side of the building.

People were in and out of the apartment during the course of the day, and a man connected with the Jeep was placed in police custody Monday night, in the back of a patrol car at the scene, Gardner said.

Police showed up at the building about 9 p.m. and at one point had the parking lot cordoned off with crime tape.

Harriett Merwin, who also lives on Hanover Street, said she noticed the crime tape when she returned home Monday night after being out shooting pool.

“I was wondering what had happened,” Merwin said this morning.

While detectives looked over the Jeep on Monday night, Simpson was connected to the vehicle and identified as the driver, Farr said.

“We made the arrest on who we believe was driving,” he added.

Simpson does not own the Jeep.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Farr was asked if investigators suspect Simpson of fleeing the scene because he was driving under the influence. He declined to answer the question, citing the ongoing investigation.

Police have talked with dozens of witnesses, including some who “may have been with the driver or talked to him afterward,” Farr said.

Simpson was described as being cooperative since his arrest.

Since Thursday, Denver police have received hundreds of calls about the case, from as far north as Fort Collins and as far south as Lone Tree.

Investigators have a “sense of pride,” about the arrest, Farr said.

“We did this for the victim,” he said. “We did this for the community. “

Simpson has an arrest record dating to 1993, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

In 2003 he was sentenced to 18 months in the Colorado Department of Corrections for felony possession of a controlled substance.

In a 2012 traffic case in Arapahoe County, Simpson pleaded guilty to speeding 10 to 19 mph over the speed limit and to driving a “defective vehicle.”

On Sunday night Denver police had looked at another Jeep in relation to the case, but Monday night’s tip refocused the investigation.

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com