Driver arrested after hit-and-run crash killed 2 pedestrians on the Downtown Connector

ATLANTA — Authorities said they have arrested a driver who hit and killed two people on the Downtown Connector early Monday morning.

Triple Team Traffic’s Mark Arum said the incident happened before 5 a.m. in the northbound lanes near Edgewood Avenue, north of Interstate 20 in downtown Atlanta.

Police said two people had gotten out of their car after an accident when they were hit by another car. That car then left the scene, police said.

Channel 2′s Tom Regan spoke to police, who said the victims had crashed their SUV possibly into a wall and spun onto the highway.

“They were outside their vehicle, possibly to inspect it for damage, and another that was also going northbound struck both men and they were killed on scene,” Officer Steven Avery said.

The Atlanta Police Department’s accident investigation team went to work looking for witnesses and crash debris to track down the hit-and-run driver.

Later in the morning, authorities found the suspect’s car. The driver of the car, 25-year-old Jose M. Garcia-Trujillo, was arrested and charged with homicide by vehicle and hit-and-run.

“A Ford Explorer with corresponding damage (was) located near Peidmont Avenue and I-85 North,” Avery said." They located the driver and subsequently that driver has been charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident."

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The identities of the victims are not being released pending notification of next of kin.

Police said the accident was a reminder of why it’s critical to stay in your car if you can’t move it to the side of the road after a crash or breakdown.

“If you do get out of your vehicle, don’t go walking around on the road,” Avery said. “That’s one of the most dangerous places there is.”

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