Fresno man arrested in hit-and-run
A Fresno man has been arrested on charges of felony hit-and-run a week after allegedly striking 15-year-old Jenny Aguilar as she walked to a gym about 9 p.m. and leaving her for dead in the street on Olive Avenue near the Bethard Square Shopping Center, according to the Madera Police Department.
Aguilar was found by another driver and remains in critical condition in Community Regional Medical Center.
Twenty-seven-year-old Paul Cano, owner of an in-home fitness training business, VFF, has been charged in the June 14th incident and has been released after posting a $10,000 bond. Cano admitted being the driver of the car that Friday night but reportedly told police he thought he had hit a light pole.
Detective Sgt. Mark Trukki said officers put together and sorted through many hours of video surveillance from at least 20 local cameras but it was ultimately a tip from a resident that had seen the tragic incident unfold on local media that provided the identifying information they needed to locate Cano.
“We are always very thankful for this kind of information from the public,” Trukki said. “Without that tip, we would likely still be searching for information or trying to identify that sign (on the car door.)
“(Cano) was up here on work-related business, training clients. From all the video gathered we were able to track his movements that night from Westberry to the scene of the accident, him exiting his car ... looking at the damage, entering his car (again) and leaving. We had the entire team of detectives on this, a lot of hours, to piece together the timeline up until he struck Jenny. We then jointly conducted surveillance at the business in the 3000 block of north Blackstone on Friday. He drove up about noon in the 2016 Hyundai with the damaged left front (fender) and the broken mirror, and was taken into custody without incident,” Trukki said.
Family members told reporters they thought Jenny’s condition was improving, but thought she would be hospitalized at least another month with brain swelling and broken bones. Jenny is an avid volleyball player, loves dogs, and attends Madera South High School, according to her brother.