Hit-and-run in Clinton leads to theft, drug and immigration charges

A hit-and-run incident in Clinton on Thursday led to a multi-agency investigation of theft, drugs and immigration violations.

Hickman County Dispatch received a report that a vehicle that had struck a telephone pole on South Washington Street within the city limits of Clinton, then fled the scene.

Witnesses told Clinton Police and Hickman County Sheriff’s deputies the make and model of the vehicle and it was later located under a carport on Waterfield Drive in Clinton. The driver and passenger were found at a nearby home.

The driver, Brayan Coronel Lopez, was cited for no operator’s license and leaving the scene of an accident. Lopez and the passenger, Lucio Marquez Ramirez, were also arrested on alleged immigration violations after confirming they are in the country illegally.

During the investigation, law enforcement located an appliance in the bed of the vehicle that was suspected of having been stolen from Lowe’s Home Improvement in Mayfield. The Mayfield Police Department was notified, and investigators responded to the scene.

After police interviewed the vehicle’s owner, Jehu Ortiz-Tomas, Hickman County deputies executed three separate search warrants at residences owned by Ortiz-Tomas. Deputies reported that additional appliances suspected of being stolen were recovered.

Officers also encountered Vincente Diaz Gomez inside one of the residences. Gomez allegedly provided officers with false names and was found to be in possession of suspected illegal narcotics and suspected fraudulent identification cards. Authorities determined that Gomez was also unlawfully present in the United States and had five prior deportations.

During the search at the residence of Ortiz-Tomas, law enforcement recovered suspected narcotics, along with a machine believed to be commonly used in the production of identification cards.

Ortiz-Tomas and Zulma Albores Tomayo were subsequently arrested by the Kentucky State Police.

Additional charges are possible as the investigation remains active.