DES MOINES, Iowa — A hit-and-run crash early Sunday morning on East Railroad Avenue left one woman dead, with a suspect subsequently identified and charged.
According to the Des Moines Police Department, officers and medics responded to reports of a pedestrian struck in the 1000 block shortly after 2 a.m. Emergency crews found an adult woman deceased at the scene. The driver fled before police arrived.
Investigators from the Traffic Unit began immediately identifying the vehicle and driver responsible. Authorities utilized surveillance footage from local businesses and residential cameras which directed their efforts to the Easter Lake area.
Detectives canvassed the neighborhood and located the suspected vehicle shortly before 2 p.m. at an apartment complex in the 2100 block of King Avenue. They identified 28-year-old Ludvin Zuniga Sarceno as the alleged driver of the vehicle involved in the fatality.
Sarceno has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Class D felony, and faces misdemeanor charges for operating without a valid driver's license and lacking proof of insurance. The Traffic Unit's investigation remains ongoing, with further information to be released as available.