A 45-year-old man was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday near San Pedro Street and East 20th Street in the Historic South-Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, and police are still searching for the driver who left him in the roadway. Officers found the man unresponsive at the scene, and he was pronounced dead there.
LAPD officers responded to reports of a crash at the intersection, according to an LAPD spokesperson cited by KTLA. Investigators examined the crash area afterward, but as of the report there was no immediately available description of the vehicle or the driver who fled. San Pedro Street was closed between Washington Boulevard and 21st Street as the investigation continued, and video from the scene showed a canopy near the sidewalk close to where the man was found.
Anyone with information is asked to contact L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. The city maintains a standing reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification, apprehension, and conviction of drivers involved in fatal hit-and-run collisions, under a Los Angeles Administrative Code amendment established in 2015, according to LAPD Online. Once identified, the fleeing driver could face felony charges under California Vehicle Code Section 20001, which criminalizes leaving the scene of a collision involving injury or death without stopping to render aid, carrying penalties of up to four years in state prison, per the Shouse Law Group.
Third Fatal Hit-and-Run on the Same Corridor in Weeks
Tuesday's crash is at least the third fatal hit-and-run tied to San Pedro Street in South LA in recent memory. Less than three weeks earlier, on August 6, 53-year-old Antonio Galvan-Solorio was killed while riding a scooter along San Pedro Street near Colden Avenue, in a case CBS Los Angeles reported the LAPD South Traffic Division took over after that driver also fled. Hoodline previously covered that scooter rider's death.
In May 2025, LAPD officers investigated another fatal pedestrian hit-and-run along Florence Avenue near San Pedro Street and Towne Avenue, where the driver initially fled before later surrendering to authorities, as FOX LA reported at the time. Hoodline also covered that case when a suspect returned to the scene. Together, the cases point to a recurring pattern of fatal hit-and-runs during night and early-morning hours along South LA's commercial corridors.
A Street Meant to Be Safe, By Design
The City of Los Angeles Mobility Plan 2035 classifies San Pedro Street as part of the Neighborhood Enhanced Network, a designation meant to make it a local active-transportation corridor connecting residents safely to schools, parks, and transit, according to planning documents from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. That designation stands in tension with the corridor's recent death toll. Citywide, roughly 65% of all pedestrian and bicyclist deaths and severe injuries occur on just 6% of Los Angeles street miles, a subset the city has designated its High Injury Network to prioritize for safety upgrades, per data compiled by Steven M. Sweat.
The broader numbers underscore why each of these crashes draws scrutiny. LAPD traffic statistics reported in 2026 show that traffic-related fatalities in Los Angeles outnumbered homicides for the third consecutive year in 2025, with 290 traffic deaths recorded compared to fewer than 230 homicides, according to LAist. Pedestrians accounted for more than half of those fatalities, with LAPD records identifying over 150 pedestrian deaths out of the citywide total, the outlet reported.
Vision Zero Fell Short of Its Own Goal
Los Angeles failed to meet its 2025 Vision Zero benchmark of eliminating traffic fatalities entirely, despite nearly $350 million in program investments since 2015, with overall annual traffic deaths remaining higher than when the program began, per the same LAist reporting. Municipal audits in 2025 attributed the shortfall to a lack of interagency coordination and political pushback against street redesigns, the outlet noted. Nationally, the picture has moved in the opposite direction: a March 2026 report from the National Safety Council found traffic deaths dropped 12% nationwide in 2025 compared to 2024, according to the Vision Zero Network, even as Los Angeles pedestrian fatalities have remained persistently elevated.
For now, investigators have not released a description of the vehicle or driver involved in Tuesday's crash, and no arrests have been announced. Anyone who witnessed the collision or who may have relevant surveillance footage from the area is urged to come forward through the crime-tip line as LAPD's Central Traffic Division continues its investigation.
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