Police: Palm Desert Man Jailed in Hit and Run DUI Crash

A Palm Desert man was jailed Tuesday in connection to a hit an run crash that sent one person to the hospital, according to police reports.

Juan Ramiro Lopez, who also goes by Jesus Ortiz, was arrested Monday afternoon when police say they spotted him fleeing the scene of a crash, according to sheriff's Sergeant Dave Adams.

According to Adams, Palm Desert police were deployed in the area of Monterey Avenue and Parkview Lane— which is just north of Fred Waring Drive— when Lopez apparently crashed into a vehicle parked at a red light.

Because of their proximity to the crash, those officers witnessed the man in a Chevy pick-up truck trying to leave the crash site, according to Adams.

"Motorcycle officers saw the vehicle driving away from the collision scene as the driver tried to elude law enforcement," Adams said.   "The driver fled towards a residential area and was captured by these officers."

When officers got Lopez in hand, they arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence and fleeing the scene of a traffic collision, causing injuries.  He was taken to the Indio jail, where he was booked on similar felony charges in lieu of $50,000 bail, jail records indicated.

A 24-year-old Cathedral City resident in the other vehicle was taken to a local hospital with "non life-threatening" injuries, according to Adams.