LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A man has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a man who was crossing a Lakewood street.
Jimmy Lee Chavez was arrested Tuesday, according to Lakewood Police. He's accused of hitting and killing 29-year-old Terre Engdahl last Friday at the intersection of Kipling Street and West 23rd Avenue.
Friends said that Engdahl was a fencer and that he had been injured in a prior motorcycle accident.
“Especially after the motorcycle wreck and then fighting so hard through all of this and doing everything to stay alive,” said Chris Sauthoff, the program manager with the Denver Fencing Center. “He could still walk, his right side was affected, so he didn’t walk very well.”
Police had previously issued a Medina Alert related to the crash and said they were looking for a black Chevy Camaro that would likely have heavy front-end damage and a broken windshield.
“That smile, that guy right here,” Sauthoff said. “We are going to miss him a lot here. We really miss him already.”
While police located and arrested Chavez, the 2014 Camaro, with Colorado license plate DWBP87 remains missing. Police said the vehicle is also missing the driver's side headlight. Investigators believe the license plate may have been removed from the vehicle after the crash.
If anyone has any information about the vehicle, they are asked to call the Lakewood Police Department at 303-980-7300 and ask for Detective Moffat.
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