When law enforcement officers hunt down a hit-and-run driver, they will first check the surveillance cameras in the area. They will review footage from surveillance cameras owned by the city and the security cameras of local businesses. If a witness or a video camera captured a license plate number, they will look up the license plate number and pay a visit to the car's owner.
If they find car parts at the scene, they will attempt to discover what kind of car those parts came from. They will then pull motor vehicle records and look for the owners of that make and model of car in the area.