5/21/2022 6AM. Bicyclist 60 y.o. George Cooper is dead, and another hit-and-run suspect Fernando Ramos, was arrested by MSCO, “… a crash recreation showed he was going around 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says Ramos previously served time for aggravated assault with a vehicle and has also been arrested in the past for DUI”.
This comes less than a month after police arrested another driver, Richard Romo, also with a horrendous past driving record in connection with the hit-and-run killing of a 13 y.o. child in Goodyear neighborhood. What are authorities doing to keep the public safe from criminal drivers?
Hit-and-run driver was speeding before killing bicyclist in Buckeye, court docs say By AZFamily Digital News Staff
Published: May. 24, 2022 at 3:44 PM MST
BUCKEYE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A man was speeding when he hit and killed a bicyclist and then drove off in Buckeye on Saturday. It happened just after 6 a.m. near the intersection on Jackrabbit Trail near Beloat Road, which is just north of Gila River. At least one witness called 911 after seeing a pickup truck driver strike a bicyclist and then drive away without ever stopping. Emergency responders arrived and the victim was pronounced dead. He has been identified as 60-year-old George Cooper… The driver admitted he had been involved in a crash and was taken into custody, according to court documents. He’s been identified as Fernando Ramos, 39, from Buckeye. During an interview with investigators, Ramos reportedly told them he didn’t see the bicycle until the last moment and couldn’t stop in time. According to the report, Ramos said he panicked following the collision and that’s why he drove away… He was booked on manslaughter and hit-and-run charges. Investigators said Ramos claimed he was going around the speed limit, but a crash recreation showed he was going around 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says Ramos previously served time for aggravated assault with a vehicle and has also been arrested in the past for DUI.
The incident occurred on Jackrabbit Trail near Beloat Road, at an unspecified location just north of Gila River. A note about the location and jurisdicions, it’s not clear to me from the news story if this is within the Town of Buckeye (in which case, Buckeye Police would deal with it, or unicorpated, in which case MSCO would.
Prior
39 y.o. Fernando C Ramos turned up these cases on public records:
TR2007118643000 from 2007 Moon Valley justice court; speeding, and driving on susp license, FTA.
There are a number of older (1998, 2000, 2007, and 2008) Maricopa County Superior court cases, the news article apparently refers to this 2015 CR2015-140092, (minutes) aggravated assault, a class 3 felony; the plea agreement looks a little fishy, in that it would seem to say he would probably still be in prison (7.5 years minus 138 days) but maybe my math is off a little including 85% time(?). I also can’t find anything about the reference to “with a vehicle”, if that was the case, his license should have been revoked pursuant to 28-3304, see vehicular assault, but that statute is not listed on the plea (?)
The current Hit-Run
many continuances as of June 2023. The defendant is charged only with hit-run, despite police having witnesses that say he was driving recklessly.
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