FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies said a hit-and-run driver who killed a man in front of his son and grandson is now off the streets.
Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco visited the crash site in Forsyth County where Joaquin Vega, 70, was hit and killed on Tuesday.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The family was planning Vega’s funeral when they learned deputies had arrested Apagito Romo Vazquez for killing him.
I have no words Jose Luis Vega Lopez told Francisco.
He was there, watching when a car hit his father walking near Atlanta Highway and Tidwell Road Tuesday evening around 8:30 p.m.
The driver never stopped.
“Our deputies took it personal. They said not here not in our county,” Sheriff Ron Freeman said.
He said deputies studied traffic patterns in surveillance video and even looked for cars that normally traveled this area but did not the next day.
TRENDING STORIES:
- These are the 10 richest Georgians, according to Forbes
- ‘Save yourself:’ Threats, countdown scrawled on metro Atlanta high school’s walls, officials say
- Woman leaves metro courthouse chooses not to return for her trial, deputies say
“Low and behold one of the vehicles missing in the pattern was found,” Freeman said.
He said that the car was in a neighborhood less than half a mile away from the crash site.
It had a dented bumper, a broken headlight and a brand-new windshield.
Deputies found the shattered windshield at a nearby repair shop.
“Within one day, they had changed the windshield on the vehicle, they had changed the registration on the vehicle they had cleaned the vehicle,” Freeman explained.
Learning the lengths deputies say Vazquez went to hide the crime.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
There is a donation box that family and friends have placed inside the convenience store Vega visited regularly. It has his photo on it for funeral donations.
IN OTHER NEWS:
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/10-04-2023/t_25fd31966933478fa253831d704537e6_name_4PP_HALLOWEEN_DISPLAY_CARTERSVILLE_PKG_transfer_frame_2580.jpeg){kind=spacer}
©2023 Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/AVZMQEB4PRFJ5G4VUJBSRF4OQQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/FWASUHJCOIZSBT3AATWOEUS4CE.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/3MNXYFUYQ32TO3RTL2VOFYOV4U.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/F6O7RW3R4NHXDKDVZ354Z5DEYM.jpg)
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/09-28-2024/t_144e5dc48bc74e59abe665a2afa4cb32_name_Copy_of_Copy_of_Stabbing_Incident_3601_Martin_L__King_Jr_Dr_NW_241440728_Post_Date05232024_1237_PM_On_May_23__2024__at_approximately_1009_a_m___Atlanta_Police_Zone_1_officers_responded_to_reports_.png)