Carlsbad police arrested a 26-year-old Escondido man on suspicion of murder after a pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run on Carlsbad Boulevard.

The collision happened at 7:46 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, in the 3800 block of Carlsbad Boulevard, according to a Carlsbad Police Department press release issued Wednesday, Sept. 16. Officers who arrived on scene found a pedestrian in the roadway with major injuries. The pedestrian was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

The driver had fled.

Investigators pieced together evidence left at the scene and tips from community members to begin tracking the vehicle. The department's automated license plate readers helped narrow the search. Helicopter support from the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department assisted from the air.

Officers located the vehicle just over a mile from the crash site. Police identified the driver as Fernando Saldana of Escondido.

Saldana was arrested on suspicion of murder, leaving the scene of a collision resulting in injury or death, DUI causing injury or death and gross vehicular manslaughter. He has a prior DUI conviction, according to the department. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office had not released the victim's identity as of Wednesday, Sept. 16. Police have not released a description of the vehicle involved. The cause of the collision remains under investigation, though the department said alcohol is suspected as a contributing factor.

The arrest marks the second fatal DUI-related case to surface in Carlsbad this week. On Tuesday, a Carlsbad man pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a separate deadly crash on La Costa Avenue.

Carlsbad police closed Carlsbad Boulevard in both directions between Hemlock Avenue and Redwood Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday for the investigation, the department posted on X.

Anyone with information about the Sept. 15 collision is asked to contact Traffic Accident Investigator Officer Nicholas Alvarado at 442-339-5136 or [email protected].