A late-night drive on Loop 375 South turned deadly for 76-year-old Manuel Oliva Contreras, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash near Pellicano Drive in East El Paso. Police say Contreras was behind the wheel of a Nissan Sentra when a dark-colored vehicle slammed into the back of his car and then took off, leaving him critically injured. He later died from his injuries, and investigators have now opened a hit-and-run case.
In a Facebook post, the El Paso Police Department said the crash happened on June 18 and publicly identified the victim as Manuel Oliva Contreras, 76. According to the department, a dark-colored vehicle rear-ended Contreras’s Sentra on Loop 375 South and then left the area without stopping. Investigators are urging anyone who may have seen the collision or the fleeing vehicle to call the El Paso Police Department non-emergency line at (915) 832-4400 or Crime Stoppers of El Paso at (915) 566-TIPS (8477). Details and the department’s full appeal for tips are posted on its Facebook page.
Investigation and context
"This incident is the city's 22nd traffic fatality of 2026," the El Paso Police Department wrote in its Facebook post, a grim marker in a year that is not even over yet. Hit-and-run crashes remain a stubborn problem in the city; an analysis by 915injury found that a substantial share of reported collisions involve drivers who take off instead of stopping, which makes it significantly harder for officers to track down suspects and bring cases to court.
How to help investigators
Police are asking anyone with information about this crash or the dark-colored vehicle involved to contact investigators through the El Paso Police Department non-emergency line or to leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of El Paso. If there is an immediate emergency or an ongoing threat, officials say to call 911 instead of the tip lines.
The investigation remains active, and authorities are specifically asking anyone who was driving in the Pellicano Drive and Loop 375 area on June 18 and has dash-cam or nearby surveillance footage to come forward. We will update this story if officials release more information.
