A man being sought in connection with a hit-and-run collision in San Jacinto that left the other driver in critical condition turned himself in and was arrested, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
Charles Edgar Bidinger III, a 38-year-old resident of San Jacinto, identified himself Sunday, June 23, to deputies at the San Jacinto sheriff’s station as the driver whose blue Kia Sorento ran another eastbound car off Ramona Expressway as he passed slower drivers by veering into the westbound lane on Saturday.
Bidinger was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on suspicion of hit and run with injuries. Bidinger was not listed in jail records on Tuesday, nor had he been charged.
The victim was in critical but stable condition Tuesday, a Sheriff’s Department news release said.
The Sheriff’s Department had been contacted by the Southern California News Group on Monday seeking an update on the case, but it did not provide one at that time.
“The San Jacinto sheriff’s station would like to thank the members of the public who provided statements to investigators after this collision occurred,” the Sheriff’s Department news release said. “Their assistance helped to identify Charles Edgar Bidinger III as the suspect and assisted with the reconstruction of the collision.”
A person by the same name as Bidinger was convicted of misdemeanor driving under the influence in 2008 after being arrested by the Hemet Police Department, Superior Court records show. Bidinger was sentenced to 15 days in jail on weekends.
As a condition of his three years of probation, Bidinger was ordered to enroll in a first-time DUI offender’s program. Court records show that he initially failed to complete the program in 2008 but later did complete the program in 2011.
Note: A previous version of this story had an incorrect middle name.
