Man arrested in fatal hit-and-run on El Camino

The red dot shows the middle of the 1600 block of El Camino Real in Redwood City where the fatal collision occurred. Apple maps.

UPDATE: 4:57 p.m. Monday: Redwood City Police this afternoon arrested a man suspected of driving a white cargo van that hit and killed a pedestrian early this morning on the 1600 block of El Camino Real.

Police identified Carl Hofstetter, 69, using surveillance video from a business near the collision.

Hofstetter also admitted to his involvement in the collision, according to police.

At 2:46 p.m., police spotted a white cargo van headed north on El Camino. The vehicle had front end damage indicating it had been involved in a recent collision, police said. The damage was also consistent with witness statements and what was depicted on video surveillance.

ORIGINAL STORY, 9:58 a.m. Monday: The driver of a white cargo van killed a pedestrian early this morning and then returned to the scene of the collision, examined the damage to his vehicle, and drove away, police said.

Police are now searching for the driver but they don’t have a detailed description.

The hit-and-run collision was reported about 2:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of El Camino Real, where officers found a man laying in the middle of southbound lanes. The accident occurred in the same block as Towne Ford and Tacos Los Gemelos.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was unconscious and had major injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel, Redwood City police said.

A witness told police that the van hit the pedestrian and then continued south on El Camino Real. The van reportedly made a U-turn at Roosevelt Avenue and headed north El Camino Real, stopping at the scene of the collision.

The driver left the van to examine the damage to the vehicle, and then got back in and left, headed north on El Camino Real, police said.

Investigators are following up on leads and examining video surveillance from nearby businesses.

Anyone with additional information regarding the incident is asked to contact Redwood City Police Detective David Denning at (650) 780-7141 or Traffic Officer Pete Cang at 650-780-7100 ex. 5021.

Tips may be left anonymously at the Redwood City Police Department’s Tip Line at (650) 780-7110. — Bay City News