Green Bay Reporter

Green Bay Police say that the 15-year-old girl believed to behind the wheel in a fatal hit-and-run crash late last month has turned herself in to authorities.

2 First Alert reported that the girl, who has not been publicly identified, told investigators she and her friends were coming from Walmart after she had taken her mother’s Toyota Corolla without permission when the crash occurred.

“It’s a tragic situation,” Green Bay Police Department Lt. Brad Strouf told 2 First Alert. “It shows what can happen so quickly. Young people don’t always appreciate the gravity of the situation or the seriousness of their actions, and unfortunately in this case, a young man’s life was lost because of some... maybe bad choices, bad decisions being made.”

Police have identified the victim as 17-year-old Cruz Beltran, who was a passenger in the back seat of the car the girl was driving near the intersection of West Mason and Oneida Streets when the three-car pileup took place. Surveillance from a nearby gas station shows part of the crash, with one car speeding into another head-on before crashing into the third car.

A memorial of balloons and signs now line the streets for Beltran near where the crash took place.

Police said that the girl, who is believed to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, ran the red light while traveling at speeds topping 100 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone. She did not have a driver’s license, as Wisconsin residents do not qualify for a license until they are 16 years old.

The girl is now being held on a $100,000 cash bond on charges of first-degree reckless homicide, hit-and-run, and taking and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent. It remains unclear if the case will be moved to juvenile court or kept in adult court.