A car wash is a strange place for a hit-and-run. Especially when the offender hits a person then washes their car.
Car washes are supposed to be places of renewal and accomplishment. After all, who doesn’t love a clean, gleaming car? Tragically, however, one Ogden car wash was the scene of a hit-and-run killing after an unlicensed driver hit a person. What’s more, police say the driver then cleaned his car and fled the scene.
Police officers arrested an unlicensed driver after he killed a 63-year-old person, got a car wash, and ran
Stirling Kelso, 63, was reportedly cleaning the parking lot of a car wash in Ogden, Utah. Strangely, Kelso wasn’t an employee of the establishment. Still, Kelso continued cleaning the lot until a gray Lexus ran him over in an apparent accident. Tragically, Kelso died at the scene.
According to a press release from the Ogden Police Department, 21-year-old Christian Hernandez Palma struck Kelso with the Lexus at around 5:00 PM. Palma fled the scene, but not before pulling into a nearby bay and washing the Lexus. After cleaning the Lexus, Palma left the car wash and went to his job at a nearby business.
Police, after reviewing security footage, noticed that Palma had a conversation with a driver in a truck bearing a company’s logo. When Palma left the scene of the crime at the car wash, the branded truck followed Palma’s Lexus.
The Ogden Police Department reported that investigators went to the unnamed business and found the Lexus in the parking lot. As expected, the luxury car had damage “consistent with an auto vs. pedestrian collision.” Police talked to the business owner who “facilitated the return of the workers.” Palma was among the workers, and police took him into custody.
In interviews, Palma explained why he had opted to wash his Lexus at the car wash after hitting Kelso. Specifically, Palma claimed he “was scared and didn’t know what to do.” Police also reported that Palma had faux documents and was an unlicensed driver.
Source: KSL
