Second hit-and-run driver charged for Paso Robles man’s death

July 9, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

San Luis Obispo County prosecutors on Thursday charged a driver with felony hit-and-run causing death for allegedly striking and killing a pedestrian in Paso Robles who had already been hit by another vehicle, then fleeing the scene. [Tribune]

Shortly before 2 a.m. on Saturday, a caller reported a gray vehicle had crashed into a pedestrian near the intersection of Meadowlark Road and Deer Springs Drive. The driver fled the scene.

Shortly afterwards, the witness called back to report a second vehicle — a dark colored BMW — ran over the pedestrian. The second driver also fled the scene.

Emergency personnel arrived and pronounced the pedestrian, 22-year-old Steve Leon, dead at the scene.

Officers located the driver of the black BMW, 32-year-old Christopher Winters, and arrested him on a charge of hit-and-run resulting in death or injury. The BMW contained evidence of being involved in the collision, according to the Paso Robles Police Department.

Police did not locate the gray vehicle, nor its driver.

On Thursday, prosecutors charged Winters with a felony count of hit-and-run resulting in death and a misdemeanor count of driving without a valid license. Winters pled not guilty to the charges.

Patrick Fisher, Winters’ attorney, said evidence in investigative reports raises doubt as to whether his client’s vehicle even struck Leon. It is possible the impact from the gray car, rather than Winters’, caused Leon’s death, Fisher said.

Winters is being held in San Luis Obispo County Jail with his bail set at $50,000. He is scheduled back in court on Aug. 11.