The Weld County Sheriff’s Office reported early Tuesday September 20, 2022 morning it has a suspect in custody in connection with a fatal hit-and-run that killed 24-year-old deputy Alexis Hein-Nutz on Sunday in Greeley.
The sheriff’s office announced in a tweet sent around midnight Tuesday that a suspect was taken into custody at 10:15 p.m Monday. On Tuesday morning, the Colorado State Patrol identified the suspect as 36-year-old Norberto Garcia-Gonzales.
Initially, agencies identified the hit-and-run suspect as Octavio Gonzales-Garcia but discovered his real name through fingerprint verification and his real passport during his arrest, the sheriff’s office said.
Garcia-Gonzales faces charges of careless driving resulting in death and leaving the scene of a crash involving death, according to a CSP news release.
The sheriff’s office’s tweet said Garcia-Gonzales was tracked to Fort Collins and taken into custody by the department’s Strike Team, the CSP and Fort Collins police.
The crash occurred just north of Greeley near AA Street and 37th Avenue when Garcia-Gonzales, driving a white van, allegedly hit Hein-Nutz on a motorcycle while she was on her way to work around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Sheriff’s office deputies responded to the scene, but the driver fled on foot into a nearby cornfield.
Sheriff Steve Reams on Monday afternoon identified Hein-Nutz as the crash victim. With the department for nearly four years, Hein-Nutz was about a week from her 25th birthday at the time of her death.
“Alexis was a hard worker, a caring deputy and a positive force for our agency,” Reams said in a message Monday. “I share in my deputies’ grief and in their anger over her senseless and tragic passing. But we are a family, and we will get through this painful event together.”
Evidence found inside Garcia-Gonzales’ vehicle — a falsified Green Card and a fake Social Security Card — revealed he is residing illegally in the United States, Reams said. He also appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the crash, according to additional evidence found in his vehicle.
Garcia-Gonzales has his first court appearance 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Weld District Court.
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