Luis Angel Corrujedo Flores was arrested and charged with collision resulting in the death of 31-year-old mother of three, Noraima Hernandez.
MIDLAND, Texas — Author’s Note: All information in this article comes from an arrest affidavit obtained from Midland County.
An affidavit obtained Friday has revealed the full details of the preliminary investigation into the July 23 hit-and-run in Midland that left a female jogger dead.
An officer with the Midland Police Department was called out to the 3600 block of Thomason Drive at 9:30 p.m. about a crash involving a pedestrian.
Police say they were advised of a woman found injured lying in the roadway with severe head trauma; she was immediately taken to Midland Memorial Hospital, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit further reveals that several witnesses at the scene gave similar yet differing stories in regard to what had transpired that night.
Police state that the first witness, who they believe was intoxicated due to several observations, said she was coming from her mother’s home and entered Thomason Drive from Wall Street. She believed the truck was a Dodge pickup. She also stated she was upset with the truck for “going the speed limit”.
She further stated that after looking down at her phone, she looked up and saw the passenger door swing open and a woman was thrown from the vehicle.
The witness said she immediately stopped her vehicle and rendered aid to the victim. The officer kept her vehicle at the scene to use as a reference and released her from the scene.
A second witness arrived on the scene and spoke with a separate MPD officer.
This witness told police the victim, identified as 31-year-old Noraima Hernandez, normally runs down Thomason Drive and had left her home around 7:30 p.m. The witness said that around 9:20 p.m., he had left to go to Walmart and drove through Thomason Drive, where he did not see Hernandez, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit further states that he texted her asking for her location around 9:22 p.m., but he never received a response. When he arrived back from Walmart, he observed police lights. He told officers Hernandez was last observed wearing a black shirt with headphones.
The affidavit says police observed two white shoes that were non-reflective in the roadway, which correlated to the second witness’s statement of Hernandez going for a run.
A third witness told police that before the collision, he had observed Hernandez running on the side of the road while he was driving along Thomason Drive. He did stop to render aid to Hernandez.
The affidavit reveals that while police were observing the road, they found a skid in the north bike lane of the 3600 block of Thomason Drive and it continued westbound in the bike lane for 104 feet filled with debris that included but was not limited to one phone, two shoes, two earrings, one set of headphones, hair, skin, one shirt and one vehicle part. The affidavit further states that this made it clear Hernandez was “struck” by a vehicle that was westbound in the mentioned roadway.
Officers then spoke with neighbors who provided Ring doorbell footage of the suspect vehicle directly in front of a Toyota, passing another vehicle in the bike lane going westbound.
The affidavit continues to state that officers conducted another investigation by painting and mapping the scene. Once this was completed, officers went to the emergency room where Hernandez was located.
There, authorities say it was noted Hernandez had linear markings on her backside consistent with being hit from behind. Photos were taken of her injuries, and then they left her in the care of hospital staff.
On July 25, two days after the incident, the Midland County Death Investigators’ Office let the police know that Hernandez was declared brain dead. On Sunday, at 10:48 a.m., Hernandez sadly passed away due to her injuries.
Police attended her autopsy at the Texas Panhandle Forensics in Lubbock, where doctors found linear markings that were around 26 inches high on her body. She also had rear linear trauma on her back that was around 34.5 inches high on her body. All information from the Texas Panhandle Forensics office was collected and put into the Midland Police Department’s system.
On Thursday, a FLOCK search of vehicles in the area around the time of the collision was conducted. There, a Ford F-250 was found near Thomason Drive and Loop 250 around 9:25 p.m. According to the affidavit, this was around 3 minutes and 40 seconds after the time Hernandez was hit.
The affidavit further states that the distance between the collision and the FLOCK Camera was around 1.75 miles on Thomason Drive. Officers observed the truck to have the same mirror lights as in the Ring doorbell video. This vehicle was dark, diesel, and looked and sounded like the vehicle heard in the Ring doorbell video as well.
Authorities say they found which residence the Ford F-250 was connected to. The man at the residence was shown a picture of the truck, and he said it was a work truck and belonged to his business. The man then requested that the police come with him to his business to determine who drove the truck.
The driver of the truck was identified as Luis Angel Corrujedo Flores, 34, of Gardendale.
According to the affidavit, on July 24, at 7:22 a.m., Flores told his senior supervisor he had a radiator leak. It was taken in for repairs, and the senior supervisor found that the truck had more than a radiator leak. The supervisor believes the radiator was damaged due to Flores striking an object. This was found to be suspicious, and he advised his mechanic supervisor.
A meeting was then held with Flores, where he was informed that the damage was consistent with hitting a pole or a heavy object, according to the affidavit. Flores stated he possibly hit an “owl” on Highway 158.
On Tuesday, a second meeting was conducted, where the senior supervisor demanded that Flores tell the truth. Flores, however, kept the same story, the affidavit reports. Police obtained both of those meetings and the repair log for the record.
The senior supervisor told police the mechanic fully repaired the radiator, and the previous one was placed in the trash. Both pieces were able to be located, and he wanted to provide them to law enforcement. Police took those pieces to collect as evidence, and they both showed signs of being in a collision, according to the affidavit.
The mechanic was further interviewed and provided a picture of the vehicle part that was found at the scene. He became visibly emotional and provided officers with a picture of the F-250’s grill, where a billet was missing. The affidavit says this billet was the same one found at the scene. The mechanic then advised police that the billet that was at the scene was the same one that the truck was missing.
The mechanic told authorities where the F-250 was located. It was found that on Thursday, Flores did not have the vehicle; however, it was verified that he was the driver on July 23.
The main supervisors at the company permitted authorities to take the F-250. An action wrecker was brought out, and a written consent form was signed.
The affidavit then states that police found Flores at a location north of Stanton, and help from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office was needed. The Midland Police Department was able to get in contact with Flores and asked him to come down to the station. He was read his Miranda rights, which he understood, and agreed to be interviewed down at the station. A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper helped out in the process due to Flores only speaking Spanish. Flores told police that he requested his belongings to come with him.
Flores then arrived at the police station and went up to the third floor for questioning. He was interviewed by a Spanish-speaking detective during this interview. The affidavit says the detective provided the FLOCK pictures of the F-250 for Flores to observe. Flores stated this was the truck he drove on July 23, and he was the only one in it.
Flores said he was driving on Rankin Highway, which was confirmed by a FLOCK hit on July 23 at 9:04 p.m. He said he was in Midland to “buy hotdogs”. After purchasing the hot dogs, Flores initially said he drove south on Rankin Highway and onto Interstate 20. He exited Interstate 20 to go northbound on Loop 250 before turning onto State Highway 191.
The affidavit reports that Flores was confronted by police on the FLOCK camera photos showing him in different locations. He then responded by providing two more false routes. Detectives then questioned him about the damage to the vehicle, which he said he possibly hit something on Highway 158. Flores claimed he did not hit Noraima Hernandez and was unable to provide a reason why the billet found at the scene matched the missing piece on the gray Ford F-250, the suspect truck. Detectives believe he was trying to create an alibi.
The affidavit also states that the measurement of Hernandez’s linear markings matched the bumper height of the F-250 that Flores was driving the night of the collision.
Due to the circumstances surrounding the investigation, police believed the suspected driver of the gray Ford F-250 that hit Hernandez was Flores. Police also note in the affidavit that it was clear he did not stop to render aid and left the scene.
He is currently being held on a $150,000 bond.