Sheriff's investigators asked for the public's help Tuesday to find a man who carjacked and kidnapped two people in a Lawndale park.
On July 19, the victims were sitting in their car in Alondra Park when a man approached them and forcibly took the keys from the driver, a 67-year-old man. The man punched the driver in the face and threw him to the ground, said sheriff's Detective Janice Banks.
The man then drove away with two people in the back seat while the driver was left outside the car, according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The carjacker then crashed into two other cars and threatened to kill the victims in the backseat after they pleaded with him to let them go, officials said.
He collided with a third vehicle at Van Ness Boulevard and Imperial Highway in Hawthorne, about 5 miles from the location of the carjacking, before fleeing eastbound on foot, Banks said.
The driver's 65-year-old wife remained in the hospital with internal injuries, Banks said. The couple's adult son will need knee surgery after the incident.
Authorities described the carjacker as a black man 20 to 25 years old, 6 feet tall and about 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
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Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Parks Bureau at 661-294-3544.
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