How San Angelo Police Identified Suspects Who Hit and Killed Skateboarder

Yesterday, the San Angelo Police arrested two individuals in connection with the fatal hit and run crash that occurred on South Chadbourne Street in August that resulted in the death of 21-year-old Joe Carlos Lopez.

Detectives with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Division obtained arrest warrants for Christopher Lee Mata and Nicole Lorelle Johnson, whom they located just before 4 p.m. at Lone Star Meat Packing. The couple was taken into custody without incident and subsequently booked into the Tom Green County Jail for 2^nd Degree Felony to Stop and Render Aid (Accident Involving Death).

Christopher and Nicole became persons of interest in mid-September after the police received an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip from someone who had viewed a video plea for help featuring Lopez’s mother, Rose Lopez.

After further investigating the tip, the police developed further information about the location of the white 2002 Ford Expedition that was driven at the time of the crash, in addition to information about the pair’s efforts to conceal the incident by repairing and eventually discarding the vehicle.

Joe Lopez was killed as he was riding his skateboard on S. Chadbourne Street near East Avenue I on Aug. 2 at around 2:30 a.m. It wasn’t until the police obtained surveillance video from a location near the crash site that they learned of the suspect vehicle’s color, make and model.

Since Lopez’s death, the member of the Department’s Traffic Section, Criminal Investigations Division, Patrol Division, Crime Analysis Unit, CSI Unit, Special Operations Section, Narcotics Section, Crime Stoppers Unit, and Office of Public Information have worked rigorously together to follow leads and locate the persons responsible for Lopez’s death and help bring closure to his family.