DUI Suspected In Fatal Hit-And-Run In Riverside

RIVERSIDE, CA — A suspected drunk driver hit and killed a woman in Riverside who was tending to an injured dog in the roadway, police said Sunday.

According to the Riverside Police Department, a 22-year-old Laguna Niguel man was driving a 2003 red Ford Ranger eastbound on Mission Inn Avenue west of Indian Hill Road when he struck the woman at about 7:53 p.m. Saturday.

The woman had been standing in the roadway's eastbound lanes, in the path of the oncoming Ranger, tending to a small dog who had been previously struck by a vehicle, police said.

She suffered major injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

The driver allegedly fled toward downtown Riverside after the crash but was followed by a witness and eventually arrested by police.

He was identified as Mason Rodney Howard and was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and driving under the influence. He remained jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

The woman's identity was withheld pending notification of her family.

—City News Service