Update: Jury convicts Paso Robles man of felony hit and run resulting in death
Update posted March 29, 2024:
Christopher Winters.
– San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced this week that a San Luis Obispo County jury has found Christopher Thomas Winters, 35, guilty of felony hit and run causing death.
During the week-long trial, jurors heard evidence that shortly after 1:30 a.m. on July 3, 2021, 22-year-old Steve Leon was struck by a vehicle on Meadowlark Road in Paso Robles. After being struck, Mr. Leon, who was on the roadway, was run over by Winters who fled the scene.
Eyewitness testimony established that Mr. Leon was alive when he was run over by Winters. About ten minutes before the crime, Winters was caught on video leaving Pine Street Saloon, where he is believed to have been drinking with friends. The driver of the first vehicle that struck Mr. Leon was never identified.
Winters faces a maximum of four years in state prison at his sentencing hearing scheduled for April 23, in Department 6 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, the Honorable Michael S. Frye presiding.
The case was investigated by the Paso Robles Police Department with the assistance of Senior Investigator Bryce Lickness with the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Ashley Cevera.
Update posted July 5, 2021:
Update: Man arrested for fatal hit-and-run accident
– Early Saturday morning, around 1:40 a.m., the Paso Robles Police Department received a call regarding a collision involving a gray vehicle and a pedestrian near Meadowlark and Deer Springs Dr. The gray car fled the scene and was last seen traveling eastbound on Meadowlark.
As officers were enroute to the call, the reporting party saw a second eastbound vehicle run over the pedestrian. The second vehicle was described as a dark-colored BMW.
Officers arrived on scene and located the victim, 22-year-old Steve Leon of Paso Robles. He was unresponsive in the street. Leon was pronounced dead on scene by paramedics from the Paso Robles Fire Department.
Officers began processing the crime scene and at about 4 a.m. and located a black BMW parked nearby in the 900 Block of Running Stag Way. The BMW contained evidence of being involved in the collision.
Officers contacted Christopher Winters, 32, of Paso Robles, and placed him under arrest for felony hit-and-run. Winters was later booked at the San Luis Obispo County Jail. He is being held in lieu of a $50,000 bail.
This is an ongoing investigation, and the Paso Robles Police Department is requesting anyone with any information to call the Paso Robles police at (805) 237-6464.
Paso Robles police were investigating the scene of the accident on Saturday morning.
Original report July 3, 2021:
Pedestrian killed in fatal hit and run accident in Paso Robles
–Early Saturday morning at approximately 2 a.m. a fatal hit and run accident was reported in Paso Robles.
Paso Robles police officers responded at a call for a “vehicle vs. pedestrian” accident on the southeast edge of town in Meadowlark Farms on Meadowlark Road near Deer Springs Drive.
One or two vehicles were seen leaving the area. One vehicle was possibly a BMW, according to police radio traffic.
Paso Robles Fire Department officials confirmed a deceased male was on the scene.
This is a breaking news report. No further information is available at this time.
Police gather evidence on Meadowlark Road on Saturday morning.
–Report and photos by Jason Brock
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