Search continues for driver in central Fresno hit-and-run

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The search continues for a driver who hit and a homeless man in Fresno early Saturday morning.

The hit-and-run crash happened at about 1 am Saturday near the Highway 41 and Highway180 transition.

The victim was identified as 49-year-old Ervin Price.

His loved ones are devastated by the news and hoping the driver will turn themself into authorities.

Ervin's daughter, Isabelle, remembers her father as loving and attentive.

"He was always there for me despite what he was struggling with internally and externally," said Isabelle. "He was a great dad and I'm really going to miss him."

Ervin's death came suddenly.

CHP officers said a Range Rover drove off the Highway 41 southbound connector onto 180 westbound and straight through Ervin's makeshift home within a large bush.

The SUV hit Ervin, who died at the scene.

Tire tracks and strewn car parts show the path the vehicle took.

Ervin's tarps and belongings remain where he set them up.

Isabelle received a call Saturday that her dad had died.

"The sheriff's office called me around 7:45 in the morning," said Isabelle. "I had actually woken up randomly 10 minutes before I got that call with just a weird, just an off feeling."

Ervin had his struggles, but Isabelle said that never stopped him from being kind and loving to everyone he encountered.

"He was just a funny guy and I think it's because he didn't want anybody to feel the kind of pain he carried around," said Isabelle. "It's unfortunate that he didn't get a chance to continue his life and continue to show up for people."

He was born in Michigan, but moved to Fresno as a child, graduating from Hoover High School, and raising his daughter in Fresno.

Although Isabelle worried about her father, she never anticipated his life would be cut short in this way. Now she's making arrangements to lay him to rest and making plans to fly her grandparents out from Michigan for a memorial service.

She's also hoping the hit-and-run driver will turn themself in.

"His family is very forgiving but its hard to forgive somebody when they're running from their own actions and it cost him his life," said Isabelle.

Originally, officers arrested a 27-year-old woman for DUI in this crash because they believed she was the driver, but it turned out she was the passenger so she was released. CHP said they do know who the driver is and are searching for them, but have not released a name.

Isabelle has set up a GoFundMe for anyone who would like to help with memorial costs.

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