PLACERVILLE, Calif. — Placerville Police Department arrested the suspect in the hit-and-run collision near the 1800 block of Broadway Drive on the evening of April 23.
Placerville police dispatchers received multiple reports of a vehicle that had struck a pedestrian. The callers reported that a dark-colored sedan had initially stopped but then sped away, traveling east on Broadway Drive.
When officers arrived on the scene, they located Ronald Ameral, the pedestrian, and started life-saving efforts. Ameral suffered major injuries, and first responders immediately took him to a local hospital. Ameral died in the hospital.
Placerville police investigators examined evidence collected at the crash scene, and with the assistance of an automotive parts expert, the vehicle was identified as either a 2007 or 2008 Infiniti G35.
The investigators located video surveillance at a business near the collision scene and identified the suspected vehicle.
The suspected driver of the Infinity G35 was then identified as Efrain Gonzalez, 20. Gonzalez confessed to being the driver in the fatal hit-and-run crash when investigators went to Gonzalez home.
Gonzalez was arrested and booked into the El Dorado County Jail for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and a hit-and-run collision causing death. Gonzalez’s bail was set at $225,000.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call Detective Aaron Pratt at (530)642-5210, as this is still an ongoing investigation.
