Hit-and-Run Driver Critically Injures Teen Bicyclist in South Los Angeles
Hit-and-Run Driver Critically Injures Teen Bicyclist in South Los Angeles
by Contributing Editor
The driver of a blue Honda Accord that struck and critically injured a 15-year-old boy riding his bike in South Los Angeles was at-large Wednesday and the boy’s mother pleaded for the hit-and-run motorist to surrender to authorities.
Police responded to the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Woodlawn Avenue about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, where they located the victim, who had been dragged about 1,500 feet, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The boy was identified by NBC4 as Roberto Diaz, a junior at Santee Education Complex. The victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to LAPD Officer Drake Madison.
Police say the teenager was riding a bike eastbound in the south crosswalk of the intersection of Maple Avenue and 37th, which is controlled by four-way stop signs, when he was struck by the southbound Honda, which did not stop at the intersection.
“As the Honda continued southbound, the bicyclist went under the Honda and he was dragged approximately 1,500 feet before being dislodged at Woodlawn Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard,” a police statement said.
Witnesses stopped the driver, who briefly remained at the scene but then fled. The Honda was last seen heading west on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, police said.
The boy suffered severe injuries and was in intensive care after undergoing surgery, according to the LAPD.
“How is it that you did not have a heart, that you dragged him … to here and left him there to die,” Diaz’s mother, through an interpreter, told reporters Wednesday morning.
A detailed description of the driver was not immediately available.
A standard $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver.
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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com
