San Jose hit-and-run: Driver walked up to dying woman, then fled, police say

SAN JOSE — A 65-year-old San Jose woman was arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in the city’s Evergreen neighborhood Thursday morning, police said.

Officers were dispatched to Nieman Boulevard and Laddie Way about 5:40 a.m. for a report of a body in the roadway, said San Jose police Sgt. Enrique Garcia. They arrived to find a woman dead in the street.

Garcia said a preliminary investigation revealed the victim was walking east across Nieman, north of Laddie, when she was hit by a light-colored 2000 Toyota 4Runner driving north. She was not in a marked crosswalk.

The driver, identified as Delilah Paray, got out of the Toyota and walked up to the victim, who was still alive at that point, but then got back into her vehicle and drove away without calling for help, Garcia said.

Garcia said it appeared as though the victim was struck by other vehicles in the predawn darkness. The drivers, he added, might not have realized they had run over a body.

Investigators were able to obtain video surveillance of the accident and located the Toyota parked on a nearby street and arrested Paray, who lives in the area, Garcia said. She was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose on a felony hit-and-run charge.

“The victim might still be alive if the driver had stopped and called for help, as she was required to do,” said Garcia, adding that the driver might have also avoided charges.

The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office will release the victim’s identity once it has been confirmed and her next of kin is notified.

The death marks the city’s 13th fatal traffic collision of the year. It is the 10th to involve a pedestrian.

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run can contact Detective Matt Templeman at 408-277-4654.

Those wishing to remain anonymous can leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867) or svcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward.

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