NEW CANEY, Texas – A Houston man was arrested Wednesday in the hit-and-run crash that killed a father in front of his two small children in New Caney on Saturday, witnesses say.
Raul Najera, 25, was charged with murder in connection with the crash that happened about midnight during a birthday party in the 18200 block of Emerald Court in New Caney.
Investigators said a family was celebrating a girl’s 16th birthday when unwanted guests crashed the party, sparking a brawl that involved about 15 people. Najera and another man were allegedly among the party crashers.
As the two men fled the scene, witness said partygoers threw rocks at their SUV. They said Najera was behind the wheel of the vehicle as it backed out of the driveway and crashed into another vehicle and a fence before hitting a group of four people, including Ray Josso, 28.
Josso was in the yard shooting off fireworks with his 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter when he was hit, according to witnesses.
“They ran over him, backed up and ran over him again,” a witness said.
Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office were able to obtain a license plate number from cellphone video of the incident that was shot by a partygoer. They tracked the truck, a 2002 Chevrolet SUV, to Najera’s parents' house in the 600 block of Frisco Street in north Houston.
Detectives arrested Najera there Wednesday afternoon. A man who was with him during the incident, identified as Emmanuel Olivares, also of Houston, was questioned and released.
Najera is being held under $500,000 bond in the Montgomery County Jail.
Deputies said the investigation remains open.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
