DES MOINES, Iowa —

Nearly three decades after a Des Moines man was killed in a hit-and-run, police say the suspected driver has been arrested.

Leslie Ruby, 64, died after he was struck outside his home on Easton Boulevard on Sept. 29, 1997. Police identified Gerardo Garcia-Michel, who was 28 at the time, as the suspected driver, but investigators said he left Iowa before he could be arrested.

Dan Anderson, who still lives next door to Ruby’s former home, recalled what happened that day. Anderson’s wife had been inside their home when Ruby was hit.

“Les had been at his daughter’s house with his riding lawn mower and was on his way back,” said Anderson, who said Ruby was mowing his daughter’s lawn. “He was hit in front of the driveway to the house next door and ended up in front of our driveway, so he was carried about 150 feet by the impact.”

Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said investigators in 1997 did not have access to the technology commonly used today.

“We didn’t have video evidence from Ring cameras. We didn’t have traffic cameras,” said Parizek. “So this was officers talking to witnesses.”

Those interviews led detectives to an officer on patrol days later, eventually finding a vehicle matching the description of the one involved, but it was abandoned. After working with what they knew, police later identified Garcia-Michel as the suspected driver.

“He apparently didn’t waste much time getting out of town, and the leads told us that he’d gone to Southern California,” said Parizek.

The warrant remained active for nearly 30 years. Sometime after the incident, there was an “America’s Most Wanted” profile done on the case.

The case changed this August after someone watching a rerun of the episode submitted a Crime Stoppers tip.

“It was from a person who said, ‘I’m watching a rerun of ‘America’s Most Wanted,’ and I recognized the guy as being a person who lives in my building,’” said Parizek. “We were super excited about it. This is how it’s supposed to work. This is why we tell these stories to raise awareness. As we read further down, this guy’s in New Jersey.”

Garcia-Michel, who police said has been living in New Jersey, was arrested by U.S. marshals on Aug. 26. He is awaiting extradition to Iowa.

“Kudos to the people for keeping track of this for 30 years and hopefully it works out as it should,” said Anderson.

Parizek said Ruby’s wife and daughter have died since that day in 1997, but police were able to notify his granddaughter.

“One of the things she said is that it was nice to know that justice was going to be served,” said Parizek. “And it was also nice to know that they weren’t forgotten about.”

KCCI did reach out to Ruby’s granddaughter, but did not hear back.