Modesto police booked Manuel Cerrillo-Mendoza on suspicion of murder after a bicyclist was killed.

A murder booking is the accusation police wrote down after the stop. It is not a conviction, and it does not identify the man who died. CBS Sacramento reported that officers stopped Cerrillo-Mendoza near 9th and M streets after the driver left the scene, and that a DUI investigation found he was driving under the influence. The Modesto Bee reported he is being held without bail.

CBS Sacramento reported Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, that Modesto police booked Manuel Cerrillo-Mendoza, 33, on suspicion of murder, hit-and-run resulting in death, and driving under the influence causing injury or death. The station reported the crash was about 4 p.m. Monday near Needham Street and McHenry Avenue, that he was driving a Chevrolet Silverado, that he turned into an alley west of McHenry Avenue and hit a 63-year-old bicyclist traveling on Alice Street, and that he left the scene. KCRA reported the Silverado was white, that the bicyclist was traveling westbound on Alice Street, and that he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Modesto Bee reported the pickup was heading east on Needham, entered the alley just west of McHenry, and was going north when it hit the bicyclist riding west on Alice. CBS Sacramento, KCRA, and the Modesto Bee all reported that the bicyclist's name has not been released. A name the police have not given is not a name to supply.

CBS Sacramento reported that officers later found the pickup in Modesto and stopped Cerrillo-Mendoza near 9th and M streets. KCRA reported investigators found the vehicle still being driven and pulled it over at that intersection. The Modesto Bee reported the stop came just over an hour after the crash, that patrol officers and the department's Real-Time Crime Center helped locate the vehicle, and that a sobriety test determined he was driving under the influence. CBS Sacramento reported a DUI investigation reached the same conclusion and that police noted prior DUI-related history. The Bee reported he is being held without bail. A prior history police say they found is background on the booking. It is not a new conviction, and it is not proof of what happened in the alley.

CBS Sacramento and KCRA reported that police called the crash Modesto's 10th deadly traffic collision of 2026. The Modesto Bee reported it was the 10th fatal crash the department has investigated this year and the fifth fatal crash in Stanislaus County since Thursday. Those counts are how the department is tallying the year. They do not decide this booking. California police can book a fatal hit-and-run driver on suspicion of murder when they say impairment and flight are part of the case. The booking is the accusation. The dead man's name is still withheld, and a court has not tried the counts. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.