South Valley fatal hit and run suspect caught in Reno, Nevada

ByBrian T. Johnson KFSN logo
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
South Valley fatal hit and run suspect caught in Reno, Nevada
Luis Osejo has a new mugshot--taken in Nevada last week.

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Luis Osejo has a new mugshot. According to the California Highway Patrol, Osejo got in some kind of fight in Nevada and ran from the scene.

But Reno Police got a good description of him and chased him down.

You might say Osejo, a one-time million-dollar lottery winner has been running since November.

That is when he allegedly drove drunk and crashed into Brittany Ibarra's car on Highway 198 in Visalia.

Ibarra, a mother of three, died, and Osejo, the CHP says, ditched his BMW and ran.

In the months since investigators have taken tips and pursued leads about Osejo's possible whereabouts in California and as far away as Nebraska.

"Even though it was back in November, we've had investigators working this case day in and day out," said CHP Officer Steve Beal. "And it's not just our local officers here. We've had special investigators from our central division in Fresno, from headquarters in Sacramento, (and) not only that, we're using people from different task forces (such as) undercover officers."

Most recently, the investigation led detectives to Reno, so Beal says it was not all that surprising that he was caught there.

Ibarra's father, Robert Ramos, says he got the news over the weekend.

It was bittersweet, he says, because he knows it will not bring his daughter back.

And of course, the court process will be hard. But he says they have to be there, on behalf of Brittany.

Ramos says he harbors no ill will towards Osejo, and he has empathy for his children too.

"Our grandkids are devastated, and I guess their kids are too, which we feel for them too," Ramos said.

Osejo is expected to be brought back in Tulare County sometime this week.

He is charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, and hit and run resulting in Ibarra's death.