Man left his truck behind after crashing into apartment building, tried to say it was stolen

BATON ROUGE – Deputies say a man tried to lie about crashing his truck into a building, even though his shoes were found at the scene and he was still covered in blood and debris when investigators went to talk to him. 

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office reported that Hector Ramirez called the office early Sunday morning and reported his truck had been stolen.

Deputies had been dispatched to an apartment complex less than half a mile from Ramirez’s home earlier where a truck had rammed through a vacant unit, so deeply it couldn’t be seen from the road. Investigators found a shoe and a hat in the back of the truck and assumed them to belong to the driver. 

The truck was found to belong to Ramirez and it was brought back to his home where investigators met with him. 

Ramirez told deputies he did not know how his truck had been stolen, as he had the only set of keys and he had not left the home since 6 p.m. Saturday night. Investigators noticed a bloody mark on Ramirez’s arm and a cut on his forehead and he said he had been working earlier that day, and his work shirt was covered in white dust that was “fresh and consistent with building material dust,” according to the sheriff’s office. 

Ramirez’s family initially told deputies the man had indeed not left the house but eventually admitted Ramirez had left the house with the truck and later returned without it and without his shoes.

Ramirez was arrested and charged with hit and run and filing false public records. His bond was set at $7,500.