Driver wanted for Watsonville hit-and-run turns himself in

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION) A driver wanted in connection to a Watsonville hit-and-run that left a woman with major injuries turned himself into police.

18-year-old Rafael Reyes was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on felony hit-and-run charges.

Police said Reyes was driving on Freedom Boulevard near Stanford Street on Oct. 27 when he hit 23-year-old Esperanza Peña at around 5 a.m. and left the scene.

KION spoke to Peña's mother-in-law days after the crash. Upon impact, Peña suffered a fractured pelvis, spinal column and internal bleeding. She was flown to Stanford's Trauma Center. She has since been released, but the long road to recovery has only just started, according to police. 

"The most horrific things happen to the best of people. She truly is the best person. For somebody to leave her in the road like that, it breaks my heart. She doesn't deserve that," said Peña's mother-in-law, Marie Anderson Gomez .