Crime and Courts

University Heights hit-and-run killer in custody: San Diego police

Detectives said they were able to identify Brandon Allen Janik, 37, as the driver of the vehicle — a 2022 BMW — that struck the victim

A shot from the crime-scene after the hit-and-run in University Heights in June.
ON-Scene TV

A 37-year-old man who allegedly fled after the car he was driving fatally struck a pedestrian in University Heights three months ago was jailed this week on suspicion of a slate of offenses, including murder.

Brandon Allen Janik of San Diego was arrested Tuesday in the 3800 block of Seventh Avenue in Hillcrest in connection with the death of 47-year-old Joshua Gilliland, police said.

At about 8:45 p.m. on June 10, a car hit Gilliland in the three-way intersection of Normal Street and El Cajon and Park boulevards, about a mile north of Balboa Park, according to Sgt. Victoria Houseman of the San Diego Police Department.

Paramedics took Gilliland to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries four days later.

Detectives eventually were able to identify Janik as the alleged driver of the vehicle — a 2022 BMW — that struck the victim. Police did not disclose the evidence that led investigators to make that determination.

Janik was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of murder, drunk driving, hit-and-run, gross vehicular manslaughter and three counts of making false insurance claims about a vehicle. He was being held without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

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