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WEST VALLEY CITY — Police are asking for help to locate a person of interest in connection to a hit-and-run that left a skateboarder in critical condition Tuesday night.
Justin Manuel Armendariz, 21, was riding his skateboard on the shoulder of the road at 4215 S. 4000 West was hit by a 1997 Acura RL at about 7:30 p.m., according to the West Valley City Police Department. Investigators said they found the vehicle involved with the hit-and-run parked at 3977 S. Hawkeye St. soon after and tied it to 32-year-old Joseph Crecencio Granados.
Prior to hitting Armendariz, detectives believe the same vehicle had moments earlier been involved in a hit-and-run crash with a vehicle at 4561 South 4000 West.
The Acura was later found by police abandoned. Granados was not the registered owner, but department spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku said registration information was used to come up with Granados' name.
There was no evidence Wednesday to suggest Granados intentionally hit Armendariz, West Valley police said.
Court records show that Granados has a violent criminal past. In 1999 he was sentenced to one to 15 years at the Utah State Prison for attempted criminal homicide and vehicle theft, according to court records. In 2011 he was again sentenced to up to five years at the Utah State Prison for his conviction of assault causing substantial bodily injury and attempting to possess items prohibited in a correctional or health facility, according to court records.
Granados was released from prison in May.
To further the investigation, police said they would like to question Granados. Anyone with information on Granados is asked to contact police at 801-840-4000.
Armendariz, who was carried about 180 feet during the collision, was expected to undergo surgery on his leg Wednesday, according to police.
"At last check, the victim was in a medically induced coma and was listed in stable, but critical condition," a statement from police reads.
