Updated at 1:45pm, April 5
A Castroville man died early Saturday morning in a hit-and-run crash in Moss Landing.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said emergency officials responded to a head-on collision on Highway 1 north of Springfield Road in Moss Landing at 12:47am.
The California Highway Patrol said a BMW was being driven by a 25-year-old male driver with a 24-year-old male passenger, both from San Jose, collided with a Ford SUV being driven by a 32-year-old Castroville man.
According to the CHP, witnesses saw the two men from the BMW walking away from the scene. The CHP requested assistance in an attempt to locate the subjects. Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies responded and deployed a drone.
The drone’s forward looking infrared (FLIR) capabilities helped deputies to locate two subjects hiding near a pond in the area of Highway 1 and Struve Road. They worked with CHP officers to arrest the suspects.
The man driving the Ford was pronounced dead at the scene. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Coroner Office identified him as 22-year-old Bryan Ortiz of Castroville.
The investigation into the crash by the CHP is ongoing.
