Police identifies suspect in hit-and-run killing of Filipino family in Temecula, CA

TEMECULA, CA – California Highway Patrol officers have identified the driver, who allegedly fled the scene of a hit-and-run crash that left a Filipino family of three dead.

Officials on Monday identified that 30-year-old Chad Isaac Huber allegedly drove his GMC pickup truck on the wrong side of the road before crashing head-on into the Malibu sedan driven by 48-year-old Andres San Agustin. Andres and his wife 36-year-old Maribeth San Agustin died at the scene. Their four-year-old son Angelo passed away a few hours later at a local medical hospital.
Huber fled the scene and remains at large.

“The subject is still at large,” said CHP Spokesperson Ron Thatcher to the Asian Journal. “He may be North or South of the border. Investigators are still following leads to his possible whereabouts.”
Thatcher said that officers have detained 23-year-old Jarred Benjamin Abatti, who allegedly helped Huber flee the scene after the crash.

Police arrested Abatti on July 1, three days after the crash. He is currently being held at the Riverside Sheriff departments Southwest Justice Center. Police have charged him with felony vehicle hit-and-run that caused death, accessory, and battery with serious bodily injury. His bail is set at $200,00, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

“He’s waiting for a preliminary trial scheduled for August,” he said.

In an interview with the Asian Journal, Maribeth’s brother, Ariel Pagaspas, said he was informed that after the fatal car crash the alleged suspects fled to a nearby gas station. The two suspects were seen on a surveillance video removing the get away car’s license plate, according to Pagaspas.
“We received word from a CHP investigator that they have the driver of the get away vehicle,” said Pagaspas before flying with the bodies of his sister’s family to be buried in the Philippines. “I really don’t know all the details yet. This is just stuff I’ve been hearing.”

Thatcher said that witness statements and physical evidence from the crime scene lead to Abatti’s capture.

Last week, the Navy held a memorial service for Andres San Agustin, a former Navy hospital corpsman. Pagaspas said the bodies are being buried in the family plot in Rizal, Philippines.