Police arrest suspect in hit-and-run that left local DJ critically injured

Investigators with the El Paso Police department arrested a suspect in the August 5, 2018 hit-and-run that left a local DJ critically injured.

Pedro Manuel Reyes was arrested September 10, 2018 and charged with Accident Involving Serious Bodily Injury. He was jailed on a $75,000 bond. Police said Reyes ran over a pedestrian at 812 N. Piedras Street.

Police did not confirm the name of the victim, but friends and relatives identified the man as Christian Ortiz, who performs locally as DJ Swift.

The hit-and-run was also captured on surveillance footage. The footage shows Ortiz, who appears to be loading several items into his vehicle, parked in what appears to be an alley. The driver of a four-door pickup then drives into the alley, pinning Ortiz against the parked vehicle.

At the time of the wreck, Rico Velez, the owner of the bar Ortiz was performing at the night of the hit-and-run, told ABC-7 Ortiz was hospitalized after suffering from a collapsed lung, lacerated liver, dislocated vertebrates, multiple abrasions and other injuries.

Velez spent a night with Ortiz in the Intensive Care Unit. “He was in and out of consciousness. He’s very hopeful, grateful to be alive, but he has a long journey ahead of him,” Velez said.

After learning of the arrest, Velez told ABC-7 his friend’s ordeal “makes you appreciate life even more.”

The night he was struck, Ortiz was on his way to the hospital to be with his wife, about to give birth to their child.

“The fact that he was actually loading up his equipment to get to his wife’s side because she was having contractions, to what happened that evening, to the process of seeing him his first night in ICU with tubes coming out of him. It was just a process that really makes you feel humble and appreciate life,” Velez said.