Arlington Police announce person of interest in fatal hit and run crash

Nearly one month after an Arlington husband and father was killed in a crosswalk near home, Arlington Police named a person of interest in the fatal hit-and-run crash.

They announced Thursday that officers are looking to speak with 24-year-old Joel Sac Tambriz about the death of 30-year-old Daniel Cruces.

In the early morning hours of June 9, Cruces was just a few miles from home when tragedy struck.

“Daniel needed to take a walk to get his mind cleared,” said Megan Vogel.

Vogel said her husband left their apartment to walk to a convenience store and never returned.

“An hour passed and we started looking on foot for him,” she said.

“I decided I should go look for him in the car. And so, me not knowing what had already happened, I was out searching for him for an hour and a half,” said Daniel’s brother David Miguel Cruces.

At the time, he had no idea that Daniel had been killed, hit in a crosswalk at the intersection of Pioneer Parkway and Center Street around 2 a.m.

Police say the driver of a black 2019 Honda Civic hatchback was to blame.

Other drivers captured video of it moments before it entered the intersection where Cruces was killed.

Police say they found the car about a half mile away on Pioneer Parkway, but it was abandoned. Witnesses said the driver took off running towards a nearby apartment complex.

Police say the vehicle was damaged from the collision and had containers of alcohol inside.

Nearly a month later, they’ve identified Sac Tambriz as a person of interest, sharing body camera footage from a traffic stop in January in which Sac Tambriz is driving the same car.

“Have him picture himself in our situation. Have him picture himself it being one of his family members and the pain that we’re feeling and the absence that we’re feeling without him. I would want him to really picture that,” said Miguel Cruces.

Besides his wife and brother, Cruces leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter, mother and sister.

“I personally feel like I’m in an alternate universe. Everything’s the same but so different. The days are just really, really hard,” said Vogel.

Loved ones say they won’t have closure until the person responsible is behind bars.

Anyone with information about Sac Tambriz's whereabouts is asked to call Arlington Police or Tarrant County Crimestoppers.