Suspected driver in fatal hit-and-run arrested after 7-month investigation
After seven months, the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run in Yucca Valley was taken into custody.
On November 6 at around 2:00 p.m., San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a vehicle versus pedestrian collision near the intersection of Airway Avenue and Primrose Drive. The victim was identified as Kim Hicks, a 55 year-old resident of Yucca Valley. Deputies say that Hicks was using an electric wheelchair to cross the street with her dog when she was struck by a vehicle. Deputies say that the driver of the vehicle did not stop, render aid, or call for emergency services.
A second fatal pedestrian versus vehicle collision occurred on November 6. That collision occurred near the intersection of Yucca Trail and Frontera Avenue in Yucca Valley, and while the 81 year-old wheelchair user was killed, drivers in that collision stopped and called 911.
In December, the Sheriff’s Department issued a request to the public for information about the driver. They asked the public to keep an eye out for what they described as a beige, tan, or gold-colored Toyota Corolla.
In April of 2026, witnesses came forward to the Sheriff’s Department and Z107.7 that they had seen that car in a Yucca Valley driveway with damage consistent with the collision, and came forward with the identity of the driver. At that time, the Sheriff’s Department indicated that they were building a case against the suspect.
In a press release issued on June 9, the Sheriff’s Department says that Deputy R. Quiroz Falcon’s investigation of the hit-and-run death of Kim Hicks utilized numerous leads including Flock Safety camera and license plate reading technology to locate the suspect vehicle.
On Tuesday (June 9), Deputy Quiroz served a search warrant at Ybarra’s home in the 7400 block of Warren Vista Drive Yucca Valley. Deputy Quiroz Falcon says that the vehicle had damage consistent with the hit-and-run.
Deputy Quiroz Falcon says he interviewed the vehicle’s owner, Linda Ybarra, 61, at the Morongo Basin Station at around 8:45 a.m. At the conclusion of the interview, Ybarra was taken into custody.
Linda Ybarra was arrested on suspicion of injury hit-and-run. She was booked into the Morongo Basin Jail and has since been released on bail.
