Jogger is killed by DUI suspect

A 46-year-old jogger was killed when she was hit by a suspected drunk driver near the border of Thousand Oaks and Oak Park, authorities said Wednesday.

Karey Marsh of Thousand Oaks was jogging in a bicycle lane shortly before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday when a car struck her, throwing her body more than 30 feet, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Det. Eric Buschow.

The incident took place on the south shoulder of six-lane Lindero Canyon Road near Bowfield Street. The car that struck Marsh also hit a tree, planter, water line and utility boxes, Buschow said.

A witness to the incident called 911. Deputies found the driver, Nicholas Lagrotta, 23, of Camarillo, at the scene. They also discovered a pair of running shoes in the road. Nearby residents told them that a woman regularly jogged on the street at that time of day. At that point, authorities began searching for the woman, Buschow said.

Deputies and Ventura County firefighters had to use a thermal camera to find Marsh’s body, cutting through heavy shrubs to reach her.

Lagrotta was taken to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter, Buschow said.

Marsh worked at a local Merrill Lynch office for years and had a daily routine of leaving her car at a nearby park and jogging the road, Buschow said.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske