Hit and run leaves one man dead

Early Sunday morning turned deadly on the road outside the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.

“It’s tragic, it’s just really tragic. Especially this morning,” Tiffany Wojciak, who is staying at the Ace, said.

Around 4:30, a motorcycle and a white pickup truck collided at East Palm Canyon Drive and Camino Real. The motorcyclist, 29-year-old Eric Strzelczyk from Bermuda Dunes, died at the scene. The pickup truck driver ran away.

“It’s awful. It’s tragic actually. I hope they find him,” Wojciak said.

Sergeant Paul Abshire of the Palm Springs Police Department said the motorcyclist likely died instantly, but the driver shouldn’t have left.

“Especially to offer assistance to the injured or to make sure no other people hit your cars or anything like that,” Abshire said.

Not to mention it’s illegal. All morning, police tape circled the hotel and closed off East Palm Canyon drive in both directions. Drivers were detoured through the Ace hotel parking lot.

“We don’t normally like people to see crime scenes,” Abshire said.

Investigation shows the driver of the pickup was at fault. Police are looking for surveillance video from nearby businesses to help in identifying the suspect, but they do know an important detail – he drove a pool cleaning company truck.

“We hope to have the person in custody as soon as possible. If anybody has any information on the driver of this truck or where he might be located, that would be very valuable,” Abshire said.