(UPDATE) DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed in Des Moines on Sunday morning. Des Moines Police say the crash happened a little before 8:15-a.m. in the 1700 block of Beaver Avenue. Officers found the 38-year old victim deceased at the scene. The woman’s name has not yet been released. Her dog also died in the crash. The driver of the vehicle that hit the pedestrian abandoned his vehicle and fled the area, but police found him nearby and arrested him without incident. He was identified as 49-year-old Jason Robert Sassman, of Des Moines. Sassman faces charges of first-degree murder and animal neglect.

Authorities said Sassman was driving a pick-up truck northbound on Beaver Avenue at a high rate of speed, when the vehicle left the roadway, struck and severed a utility pole and continued driving through residential yards and onto the side walk, where it struck and killed the female pedestrian and her dog.  The incident remains under investigation.