California Woman Tries To Evade Police By Dying Hair Pink, Getting Face Tattoo


A California woman accused of killing a man in a hit-and-run accident allegedly tried to evade police by drastically changing her appearance. The Santa Ana woman, 36-year-old Tracy Clapp, reportedly ran a red light back in April killing 26-year-old Chris Chavez who was crossing the street. However, instead of stopping to provide assistance, Clapp allegedly fled the scene. Police began searching for the woman and later found her with a completely altered appearance. She had dyed her hair pink and got a large face tattoo.

The Daily Mail reports that a California woman allegedly went to great lengths to ensure she would not be recognized by police following her involvement in a deadly hit-and-run accident. Tracy Clapp reportedly ran a red light in Santa Ana on April 20th and hit 26-year-old Chris Chavez as he attempted to cross the street. Police and witnesses claim that Chavez had the pedestrian right-of-way at the time of the accident and that Clapp initially stopped and got out of her car.

However, witnesses to the crash say that after exiting her car and seeing Chavez, Tracy got back into her BMW and drove away. Emergency responders took Chavez to the hospital for treatment, but he would succumb to his injuries and pass away on April 29th. Following the death, police began searching for the woman involved in the deadly hit-and-run.

Tracy Clapp was identified as the driver in the accident by police, but was not found until yesterday when the authorities received an anonymous tip about her whereabouts. When police went to arrest Tracy Clapp, they say she looked entirely different. The woman was reportedly wearing colored contact lenses, had a large face tattoo and had dyed her hair bright pink. Prior to the deadly hit-and-run, Clapp had dark hair and no facial tattoo.

Corporal Matt Wharton says that they believe Tracy’s change in appearance was an attempt to elude police.

“It is our belief that she did all of that to allude capture.”

It was also noted that the arrest was not made without a fight on Tracy Clapp’s part. The woman reportedly fled the scene on foot after police arrived to make the arrest and continued to escalate with Tracy allegedly assaulting an officer. Finally, police were forced to utilize a K-9 officer to take down Tracy, who was then taken to the hospital with injuries to her left arm from the K-9.

Chris Chavez’s father Ralph Chavez thanked police for bringing some justice to his son’s senseless death and says he “feels nothing” for Tracy at this moment.

“The tip that came in put this lady away – thank you guys very much. I hope that she can never be on the streets again to do this to anybody else. I feel nothing for this lady right now…I’ve got a big battle. We’re a broken family right now.”

Ralph notes that though his son was pronounced dead on April 29th, he was not removed from life support until May 1st so that he could donate his organs. Ralph says that he wanted something good to come from his son’s death and organ donation made that possible.

Meanwhile, Tracy Clapp is still in the hospital receiving treatment for her arm injures but will be facing charges of “suspicion of felony hit-and-run, vehicular manslaughter, felony evasion with a want and disregard for public safety and battery of an officer” upon release.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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