The Madison Police Department released information Wednesday regarding a deadly hit-and-run that took place last March, with hopes the community will help police catch the suspect.

The victim, 20-year-old Lucas Peerenboom, was crossing Park and Regent Street with friends March 10, 2007. Peerenboom, the last in the group to cross the street, was struck by a passing van. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene immediately.

Peerenboom died three weeks later. According to MPD public information officer Joel DeSpain, Dane County Coroner John Stanley said the cause of death was traumatic brain injury.

Since the day of the hit-and-run, DeSpain said finding the driver of the van has been a major priority for the MPD, which in April received information about the van involved in the crash.

"A local auto repair man had a customer bring in a van to be worked on. It had tinted windows, and the man requested that the shattered front window be fixed," DeSpain said. "Remembering the news the auto repair man had heard about the crash, he was able to put two and two together."

He added that this insight served an important and necessary factor in identifying a suspect, whose picture and personal information were released Wednesday.

"He contacted us right away, and we are grateful for that," DeSpain said.

According to the MPD release, the suspect, Felix Romero-Ocotl, is a 30-year-old Hispanic male. He is approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs approximately 150 pounds.

The suspect had been living on the south side of Madison when the crash occurred.

Since the hit-and-run, his location has been unknown.

"The MPD has not been able to locate the suspect, and although we know he still has family in the area, he also has ties in Mexico," DeSpain said. "We are crossing our fingers that we find him, but if he is not in the country, it obviously makes this a very difficult task."

DeSpain commented on the difficulties of locating a suspect when there is no information regarding his whereabouts.

"We will continue to search for Mr. Romero-Ocotl, and hope that in releasing his information we will be able to find him in the near future," DeSpain said.

He added any community members with information on the suspect should call Crime Stoppers at 266-6014.