The clock ticked past 3:41 a.m. when Chandler police Officer Jon Correll got the page to join a hit-andrun investigation on Frye Road.

Paint chips, chrome-colored plastic, a body and a broken bicycle lay on the street. Two witnesses saw a Dodge Ram flee after striking the cyclist. But no one saw the driver’s face or the license plate number.

Since the May 14 crime, Correll has worked almost daily trying to solve the hit-and-run wreck that killed 55-year-old Carlos Gomez of Chandler along Frye Road near Jackson Street.

Police have interviewed witnesses and, through a computer database, have compiled a list of some 100 trucks that match the fleeing vehicle’s description. Correll has spent his time talking to body shop owners, informing them of the damaged truck, and has hit the streets looking for the vehicle.

But none of this has led to the driver.

Hit-and-run collisions occur daily in the East Valley and range from parking lot fender-benders to severe collisions resulting in injuries or death. Cops comb the streets for evidence but often end up with little information. Sometimes, a license plate or partial number leads to an arrest. Other times, it’s a tip from the public or an angry companion.

Police say the amount of evidence dictates what cases are solved, and the severity of the wreck can determine how much time is spent on an investigation.

East Valley police departments don’t keep track of the total number of hit-andrun cases that remain unsolved, but some agencies were able to provide a glimpse of their success rates.

In Gilbert, some 44 percent of hit-and-run injury cases were solved in 2006, and this year, as of May 17, 47 percent of the wrecks resulted in arrests, police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Duncan said.

In Tempe, the rate of solved cases goes up as time passes and new information becomes available, Tempe police spokesman Sgt. Mike Horn said. Based on cases assigned to detectives, 70 percent of the injury hit-and-run wrecks were solved in 2004 and 2005, compared with 60 percent in 2006.

Mesa police detective Tim Wight, who works in the Vehicular Crimes Unit, said that of the 192 cases he was assigned last year, he filed charges in 12 percent of them.

Across the state, there were 16,723 hitand-run wrecks in 2005, leaving 54 people dead and 5,182 injured, according to the latest report from the Arizona Department of Transportation. In 2006, there were 83 deaths in hit-and-run wrecks. Other data for last year wasn’t yet available.

In the East Valley, hit-and-run wrecks represented 17 percent of the 27,218 vehicle collisions in 2006, when there were seven fatal hit-and-runs.

The collisions often leave victims and their families asking why someone would flee.

“It just makes me sick every time I read about another one, because there are so many,” said Elaine Ruppert, whose son, Nick, was struck and severely injured while crossing a street in Scottsdale two years ago.

There is no one reason why drivers flee from the wrecks.

Wight, a 21-year police veteran, said some people don’t believe the wrecks are a “big deal.” Others don’t have insurance, have suspended driver’s licenses, are drunk or want to avoid contact with police.

And there are drivers who just don’t want to own up to their mistakes, Chandler police officer Cameron Jacobs said.

“There’s probably a million reasons, but none of them are good enough when you’ve got a human life involved,” Elaine Ruppert said.

And perhaps no one other than the driver will ever know in the Chandler case on Frye Road.

Gomez was wearing an orange traffic vest as he rode his 10-speed Huffy east on Frye Road, which is lined with street lights. A couple preparing for a trip to Texas told police they saw the Dodge Ram stray into the bike lane and strike Gomez as well as the curb.

He was thrown from his bicycle, which was then dragged under the vehicle until pieces of it dropped on the road.

“The person who did this knows he hit somebody or something,” Correll said.

Officers have talked to Dodge dealers and paint and body shops to alert them of the wreck in case the driver tries to order parts or have the damage repaired.

On May 29, Correll and patrol officers started handing out 300 bright yellow fliers, seeking the public’s help in finding a Dodge that is either almond or gold in color. According to witnesses, there was a large Dodge Ram decal in the truck’s rear window.

Police believe the truck is a late 1990s or early 2000s model. A paint chip analysis could pinpoint the exact year; however, that information takes months to determine and isn’t yet available.

Through Chandler police and Arizona Department of Public Safety databases, authorities have compiled a list of more than 100 Dodge Rams owned by drivers police have made contact with over the years. Correll has been going to those owners’ homes and checking their trucks to determine if they bear any damage that could be related to the crime.

“This particular one is probably going to be pretty difficult (to solve),” said Correll, who has spent five years on the department’s Accident Investigation Team.

Scottsdale police have been down this path. More than two years ago, a sport utility vehicle struck 21-year-old Nick Ruppert as he walked in the crosswalk across Scottsdale Road near the Kerr Cultural Center box office.

It was dark on that March 10, 2005, night and witnesses gave varying descriptions of the vehicle. Police have sought everything from a silver Jeep Wrangler to a Toyota RAV4 and a Geo Tracker with front-end damage, according to authorities and the family.

They contacted repair shops and distributed fliers, but police have no license plate number and no one has come forward, Scottsdale police detective Rodger Paliwoda said.

The case is open and assigned to a detective but remains frustrating for officers as they can’t do anything for the family, Paliwoda said.

Nick Ruppert of Mesa is now 23 years old and uses a wheelchair. The Arizona State University junior had suffered a brain injury and was in a coma for two months. He remained hospitalized for another four months after he awoke.

He can e-mail and write to people but his speech and walking suffer. His goal is to return to ASU and obtain his degree.

His mother said the family focuses on helping him get better, but there are times when she thinks about the wreck and wishes they could get the driver off the road.

“In my quiet moments, I wish we could find that person,” she said. “But it’s not something I dwell on.”

Information sought

• Anyone with information about the Ruppert case should call Scottsdale police detective Shawn Twitchell at (480) 312-2385.

• Anyone with information about the Gomez case should call the Chandler Police Department at (480) 782-4800.