Around 6:45 p.m. on February 9, John Hughes, a 61-year-old Newman man was walking north on the side of the highway near Valley Home Road. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Ming Hsu, a Chevrolet traveling in the same direction as Hughes hit him.

Hsu said that Hughes had been walking near the white line on the east side of the road and the car that hit him had to have been going about 45 mph at the time of impact. After striking Hughes, the car continued northbound.

First responders on the scene started CPR on Hughes and then transported him to Oak Valley Hospital. The injuries he sustained in the accident were too serious and he died shortly thereafter.

Hughes’ sister resides in Oakdale and she told the police that her brother could often be seen walking in that area.

Around 9:30 p.m. that evening the California Highway Patrol received a phone call from 28-year-old Matthew Keith and reported that he had hit an “unknown object” earlier in the day. He had heard about the incident on social media and called the police.

Officers immediately went to the house in Oakdale and determined that Keith was a party in the collision that killed Hughes and that he was under the influence.

Keith was arrested under suspicion of DUI causing an injury or death. The investigation will continue to decide if the hit-and-run charge will be added to the charge that Keith is already facing.

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