Police, community still have questions after deadly 2019 hit-and-run

Published 4:05 pm Thursday, September 9, 2021

A hit-and-run driver more than two years ago in Hermiston killed Antonia “Toni” Minne Cobarubias. Oregon State Patrol Sgt. Seth Cooney said, to date, authorities have not found the person responsible.

“There have been no further developments,” Cooney said. “We have received no information, despite a reward offered by the family.”

Cobarubias, 41, was a Hermiston resident, born in Nampa, Idaho. She was pushing a grocery cart on Highway 395, near Sherrell Chevrolet, when she was hit from behind by a red car. The driver did not stop at the scene of the crime.

“That’s pretty cold,” Cooney said. He added, he does not often see cases like this. For a person to hit a pedestrian and then drive away is not commonplace.

He said he doubts the crime was intentional. When traveling up the hill, the lights of the dealership and other businesses limits visibility at night, he said. It is possible the driver could not see Cobarubias. Another possibility is the driver was impaired, he added. Such impairment would reduce the reaction time of a driver, leading to a potential accident.

Not knowing the condition of the driver, Cooney does not know all of what might have happened.

It seems clear, he said, the driver knew, at some point, he had struck a person. The driver stopped at the nearby Rocket Mart gas station, where he checked his vehicle. If he did not, at the time, see signs he struck a person, he would have seen those signs later, in the light of day.

“There would be something left on that vehicle, considering the damage,” he said.

The entire front bumper came off in the collision.

By the time police and other emergency personnel arrived at the scene at 2:30 a.m., the driver was gone. Police searched for the vehicle, which was believed to be a 1994 to 2001 Acura Integra. The car was missing its passenger side mirror, as well as its front bumper, which were recovered on the road. Authorities hoped they would find the damaged car and then find the driver.

Cobarubias, born June 12, 1978, was remembered by her family, as well as her faith community. Desert Rose Ministries, which offers services to homeless people, posted photos of her, according to a 2019 article by the East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald. Echo Community Church held her funeral on Sept. 18, 2019.

Cobarubias’ family offered a $1,000 reward for any information that would lead to a conviction of the responsible person.

Cooney has spoken with Cobarubias’ family regularly, he said, since the hit-and-run. He said hopes someone will come forward with information that will help him solve this case. Maybe then, Cobarubias’ family will find some peace.

Meanwhile, even Cobarubias’ friends are looking for answers and reflecting on the woman’s life.

Cobarubias was a part of the Echo Community Church’s congregation, according to Charlene Marcum, wife of the pastor. She knew Cobarubias well, believing her to be a helper, sometimes to her own detriment.

“She had a big heart,” Marcum said of Cobarubias.