A pursuit driver in a stolen vehicle crashed into a person in a bike lane in Koreatown. John Cádiz Klemack reports for the NBC4 News on Dec. 8, 2022.
A driver in a stolen vehicle led authorities on a pursuit before crashing into a person on a bike and two other cars in Koreatown.
“Thank god everyone’s safe,” Raphael Cervantes, a witness, said.
Video footage from inside Cassell’s Hamburgers on the corner of 6th and Normandie shows Cervantes approaching the front door to see the end of what LAPD says was a very dangerous hit-and-run turned pursuit.
“I saw the car come down Normandie going south, hit these two cars, the Camry, the Genesis and this Toyota right here,” Cervantes said.
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LAPD says the Audi was stolen out of West LA – its owner calling 911 as they were following it from an onboard security system.
In the downtown area, traffic detectives say the driver clipped a man riding a bike in a bike lane.
“I actually talked to him, obviously very upset but lucky for him he was able to go to his family, he has two kids at home,” Detective Juan Campos, with the LAPD Central Traffic Division, said.
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But so began the first felony that the driver will be charged with.
“The suspect is a male, Black, 31 years old. He did not stop to render aid which is a felony hit and run,” Campos said.
The driver ended up in Koreatown, headed south on Normandie, side-swiping a woman’s car.
A little shaken but otherwise okay – she looks at the damage she says she has to now tell her insurance about.
The same goes for the other victims – all of them unhurt. But looking back at the surveillance video, the people waiting on the corner, the rush to move after the crash – police say this could’ve been much worse.
In the surveillance video, it appears the driver tried to take off running.
“They guy came out, airbags deployed, just ran out grabbing something and cops came at him with pistols and said get down, get down,” Cervantes said.
The driver was taken into custody – expected to be charged with at least three felonies – hit and run, fleeing police and grand theft auto.
“It’s crazy, you know, you never know what’s going to happen. Normal Thursday morning and someone plows through three cars in an intersection,” Cervantez said.
