BPD: Hit-and-run driver who sent baby to hospital arrested
Police said an automated license plate reader picked up 32-year-old Luis Roberto Munoz-Sanchez in San Leandro.
A suspect is now in custody in a hit-and-run crash in Berkeley that sent a baby to the hospital earlier this week, authorities said.
Police found driver Luis Roberto Munoz-Sanchez, 32, in San Leandro on Wednesday thanks to an automated license plate reader (ALPR) hit, BPD said.
Police say Munoz-Sanchez (unhoused) struck the 9-month-old girl in her stroller as her father was pushing her across Alcatraz Avenue at Dover Street on Monday.
She sustained a head injury and broken bones but is now home recovering, Berkeley police said.
Police said Munoz-Sanchez initially stopped after the crash but then fled the scene.
BPD said an alert witness took a photograph of the car, a Chrysler 300, which officers placed in the system as a "felony want."
Emilie Raguso
On Wednesday, San Leandro police officers got an alert from their ALPR cameras that the Chrysler was in their city.
When they found it, the car was parked but unoccupied.
When Munoz-Sanchez came back to the car, authorities said, SLPD officers detained him and alerted Berkeley police.
He later admitted to driving the car, hitting the child and fleeing the scene, BPD said.
Luis Munoz-Sanchez. BPD
Munoz-Sanchez was subsequently arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run causing injury, according to booking records. He is being held on $50,000 bail.
He is scheduled for arraignment Friday, according to court records.
"This is one more example of how impactful ALPR cameras can be in assisting in law enforcement investigations," Berkeley police said.
BPD has its own ALPR program in the works. It is expected to come online by the end of the year.
Note: This story was updated slightly after publication to include additional details and a booking photograph.
