Couple arrested in fatal hit-and-run

Authorities on Wednesday arrested a couple in connection with a hitand-run crash that left a teenage girl dead last week in Pittsburg.

The arrests came after Pittsburg police appealed on social media for tips in the death of 17-year-old Brooke Jeffrey, who was hit as she was walking toward Golden Gate School northbound on Stoneman Avenue at Briarcliff Drive about 7:15 p.m. on March 7.

Roberto Sainez, 34, and Vanessa Landeros, 30, both of Pittsburg, were arrested in the 3000 block of Gladstone Drive in Pittsburg, where investigators were serving a search warrant, police said.

Sainez was booked into Contra Costa County jail on multiple charges including vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run resulting in a death, destroying or concealing evidence and driving with a license suspended for DUI.

Landeros, his fiancée, was booked on charges of accessory after the fact and destroying or concealing evidence.

An online fundraiser for Jeffrey seeking $15,000 to help her family pay her expenses had raised about $13,800 by Wednesday afternoon.

Jeffrey was a dancer for 12 years at Melody's Dance Studio in Pittsburg, which started the fundraiser. The studio said the incident “has left us devastated and heartbroken.”

Officers arrived to find Jeffrey down in the street and immediately provided medical aid, according to a statement from the Pittsburg police. Police said that as she crossed into the westbound lanes of traffic, a vehicle hit her.

Jeffrey was in a marked crosswalk when the collision happened, police said.

The driver kept going west on Stoneman Avenue and is wanted for felony hit-and-run, police said. Police are urging anyone with information to contact them at 925252-4040.