PHOENIX (CBS5) -
Police have made an arrest in a hit-and-run that killed a 41-year-old woman.
Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump said police took Christopher Chevalier, 45, into custody late Thursday morning at Lumension Security where he works in Scottsdale.
He faces charges in connection to the death of Anna Blaze, who was killed at 1100 E. Northern on March 3. Witnesses described a small red convertible that jumped the curb and struck the mother of two from behind before taking off.
The next day, Chevalier turned over a 1984 Alfa Romeo red convertible to Phoenix police and then invoked his constitutional right to remain silent. The car was missing its windshield. It was taken to the Phoenix Police Department crime lab on Washington Street.
Several tips came in to police over the next few weeks with witnesses describing the car and the driver.
When Blaze's family came to town from Louisiana to collect her things this week, they made another plea to the public for more information.
After a news report on Wednesday, a tip came in to police that gave them probable cause to arrest Chevalier.
"We currently have a witness that has come forward, can positively identify the driver of the vehicle and saw the driver of the vehicle operating that car in close proximity to the time of the collision," Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
"I don't know how that person did what he did but all I do know is that in my heart, I know justice will prevail," said the victim's sister-in-law, Angelina Blaze, who was at the press conference along with her brother, Anna's husband.
In Chevalier's South Phoenix neighborhood, Ted Brownell tells CBS 5 he knew something was wrong a few weeks ago and put two and two together.
"I was walking by one day and saw the red car out there and noticed the front windshield was damaged," said Brownell.
The neighbor says Chevalier lives with his three teenage children and wasn't aware who was driving the convertible until today's arrest.
"I feel bad for him," Brownell said.
Chevalier faces charges of manslaughter, leaving the scene of a felony injury and tampering with physical evidence. A search warrant turned up the car's damaged windshield in a dumpster.
Stay with cbs5az.com for updates.
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A red convertible Alfa Romeo believed to have been involved in the fatal hit-and-run involving a Phoenix woman is brought to the Phoenix Police Department's crime lab. (Source: CBS 5 News)
Christopher Chevalier (Source: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
Anna Blaze (Source: Phoenix Police Department)
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