Hit-and-run driver identified

By Alex Garrison

Monday, October 26, 2009

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Hit-and-run driver identified

Police have identified the driver in the hit-and-run fatality of former KU student, Rachel Leek. The police say the driver is 21-year-old Joel Cedric Hernandez, but they have made no arrest.

Police have identified the driver in the hit-and-run fatality of former KU student, Rachel Leek. The police say the driver is 21-year-old Joel Cedric Hernandez, but they have made no arrest.

Lawrence police have identified the driver involved in the hit-and-run accident that killed 20-year-old former student Rachel Leek as she rode her bicycle on Tennessee Street Oct. 16.

Police reports released Friday said Joel Cedric Hernandez, a 21-year-old Haskell University student, struck Leek at the 1000 block of Tennessee at about 2:20 a.m. and then fled the scene. Police think Hernandez was under the influence of alcohol, though no tests were administered to confirm this.

Two passengers were in the car with Hernandez at the time of the accident. One passenger was the owner of the car, a white, 2001 Pontiac Grand Am.

Leek was life-flighted to Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka, where she later died.

Leek’s bicycle, which had been painted turquoise and yellow, had no lights or reflectors on the frame. There were pedal reflectors on only one side of each pedal, according to the accident report filed by Lawrence police officer James Welsh.

The accident report has been forwarded to the district attorney’s office. No arrests have been made.

— Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph

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