Photo: Getty Images
LONG BEACH (CNS) - A $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in a Long Beach hit-and-run crash in 2022 that killed a 42-year-old man and his 3-year-old daughter has been renewed, and police Friday continued their search for the motorist.
Octavio Montano Islas 25, was allegedly driving a 2014 Ram 1500 pickup northbound on Rose Avenue near East Artesia Boulevard about 10 p.m. March 1, 2022, when the truck "left the roadway and collided with an apartment building, killing two of the occupants inside," the Long Beach Police Department reported. The suspect allegedly ran from the crash scene.
Jose Palacios Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the scene, and his daughter Samantha Palacios was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
The suspect was described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 160 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and unspecified tattoos on his right forearm.
The reward, which had been offered in 2022 by the city of Long Beach and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, has been renewed, said Long Beach police Chief Wally Hebeish.
"To the suspect that took the lives of Jose and Samantha -- our officers will not be dissuaded by the passage of time," Hebeish said in a video statement released Friday. "We will continue our investigation until we find and arrest you. You will be held accountable for the death of Jose and Samantha."
Anyone with information on his whereabouts was asked to call LBPD Detective Kevin Johansen at 562-570-7355. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.