Napa Student Taken Off Life Support After Suspected Hit-And-Run
NAPA (CBS SF) - A Vintage High School senior who was hospitalized after he was found bleeding in the roadway in Napa earlier this month was removed from life support Monday night, a Napa County sheriff's captain said.
Ramon Ramirez, 17, of Napa, was found around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 14 on Pear Tree Lane near Villa Lane. Napa police said he had somehow been thrown onto the windshield of a parked SUV.
Investigators have come to believe Ramirez was struck by a car in a hit-and-run accident, Napa police Sgt. Paul Paniagua said Tuesday morning.
No persons or vehicles of interest have been identified, and the investigation into the death is continuing, Paniagua said.
Ramirez, who played on Vintage High School's soccer team, suffered head injuries in the collision and had been in a medically induced coma at the hospital since he was struck.
Police were initially unsure how he was injured and even considered the possibility he was "car surfing," Paniagua said.
However, it now appears that was not the case, he said.
"We believe he was struck by another vehicle and is the victim of a hit-and-run. That's what the evidence has indicated," Paniagua said this morning.
Police are hoping witnesses will come forward with information, regardless of how unimportant it might seem, Paniagua said.
"We're sure someone saw something," he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Napa police Office Thomas Helfrich at (707) 257-9223 or send a text message to Napa Valley Crime Stoppers at 274637.
Napa Valley Crime Stoppers has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Ramirez's organs were harvested at the Queen of the Valley Hospital, and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, sheriff's Capt. Tracey Stuart said.
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