Lake Havasu City Police have located the suspect hit-and-run vehicle following a citywide search effort.

The yellow Dodge Neon involved in the hit-and-run accident Sunday morning was located, unoccupied behind an apartment complex in the 2500 block of North McCulloch Boulevard, said Senior Officer Joe Murdock, of the Lake Havasu City Police Department.

“The person who parked it there, it looked like lived at the complex,” Murdock said. Police were able to contact the owner of the vehicle, who resides at the apartment complex, and allowed them into the apartment unit. “He said (the driver) was a friend of his who went back to Mexico … that they were both at a party and his friend took the car,” Murdock said Monday.

Dispatch received a call about 1:10 a.m. Monday from someone who knew where the car was, and police arrived at the location about 15 minutes later. The vehicle was towed to the police department where it is being held for further investigations.

The name of the alleged driver has not checked out so far, Murdock said. Police interviewed both the owner of the vehicle and his roommate, but neither fit the description of the suspect driver, who was seen by a passenger of the other car involved in the wreck.

Murdock said police do have some leads and the investigation continues into the collision.

The wreck occurred about 3:46 a.m. Sunday when the driver of the Neon was reportedly traveling northbound on Mariposa Drive at a speed in excess of 50 mph when he skidded the vehicle 117-feet through a stop sign into the intersection at Swanson Avenue. The Dodge Neon was T-boned by Havasu driver 25-year-old Michael Garcia, who was traveling westbound on Swanson in his 2004 Honda Civic, according to earlier reports.

Police investigators followed the Neon’s tire marks from the scene to where it ran over a street sign near Swanson and Smoketree avenues after fleeing the accident. The vehicle’s trail was lost in the downtown area where the tire marks fade, according to earlier reports.

Garcia and two passengers, both of Havasu, all suffered minor injuries and were taken to Havasu Regional Medical Center by private vehicle at a later time to be treated for minor injuries.

One of the passengers of the Honda walked up to the Neon and asked the other driver if he was OK before he fled the scene.

No alcohol was involved with the driver or passengers of the Honda, police reported. It is unknown of alcohol was a factor with the other driver because he left the scene. Fleeing the scene of an injury accident is a felony in Arizona.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.