The Atwater Police Department has announced an arrest in connection to a 2023 fatal traffic collision. APD reports that its officers responded to the intersection of Green Sands Avenue and Buhach Road around 12:10 a.m. on August 26, 2023 for a traffic collision.

Authorities say officers found a two-vehicle collision involving a white Acura Sedan and a silver Toyota Corolla. Multiple occupants in the vehicles were injured and transported to area hospitals.

APD says two occupants of the silver Toyota, 26-year-old Joshua Hitto and an 8-year-old girl, were pronounced deceased at the scene. The Atwater Police Department says it has arrested a suspect following a yearlong investigation.

On October 29, 2024, APD arrested 25-year-old Raul Covarrubias on two counts of Murder. Covarrubias was taken into custody in the City of Los Banos by LPD and turned over to the Atwater Police Department.

Covarrubias was booked into the Merced County Jail.