A Santa Paula woman charged with vehicular manslaughter in the 2016 traffic death of emergency medical technician Chris Parry is believed by California Highway Patrol investigators to have fled to Mexico.
Yolanda Munoz Hernandez, who was 50 at the time of the fatal crash, now 53, was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter on June 1, 2017, almost a year after the crash.
Within 30 days of being charged, a bench warrant was issued for Hernandez’s arrest after she failed to appear in court.
“A bench warrant was issued on June 26, 2017, when the defendant failed to appear at her arraignment,” Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, said in July.
The bench warrant enabled law enforcement to arrest Hernandez at any time, he said.
“Her (arrest) warrant is in the system still,” said CHP Officer Josh Greengard said Wednesday, noting the warrant is for $75,000.
“A few months ago, we checked every known address she’s ever had on file,” he said, noting Hernandez was not found to be living at any of the addresses.
“Our assumption is she fled to Mexico,” Greengard said.
In May 2018, when asked about the status of the case, Santiago said: “Court records show that a bench warrant is still pending in this case.”
Christopher Ronald Parry, a 35-year-old father or two young children who lived in Ojai, was on his way to work on Aug. 24, 2016, when the traffic collision occurred.
Parry worked in the Santa Clarita Valley as an EMT with American Medical Response Inc.
The fatal crash happened shortly before 5:45 a.m. on Highway 126, just east of the Ventura County line, Greengard said at the time of the crash.
The motorcyclist – Parry – was operating a 2008 Shang Motorcycle scooter, traveling eastbound on Highway 126 in the “No. 2 lane” which is the lane next to the fast lane, at an unknown speed, Greengard said at that time.
The driver of a 2006 Dodge Stratus – later identified by CHP investigators as Hernandez – was traveling eastbound on the same roadway in the same line directly behind the motorcyclist, Greengard said shortly after the crash.
The driver of the Dodge was “traveling at a greater speed than (the motorcyclist),” he said, adding she “failed to notice” the motorcyclist directly in front of her.
661-287-5527
On Twitter: @jamesarthurholt
