A motorcyclist died after being struck by a minivan whose driver sped off, prompting Los Angeles police to put up a $50,000 reward for anyone who can help identify the person responsible. The crash happened around 7 a.m. Wednesday at Ventura Boulevard and Carpenter Avenue in Studio City, and the motorcyclist was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
According to MyNewsLA, the motorcyclist was traveling eastbound on Ventura Boulevard at Carpenter Avenue when the driver of a blue 2004 Honda Odyssey minivan, heading westbound, attempted a left turn onto Carpenter Avenue and struck the rider. The driver did not stop, instead continuing south on Carpenter Avenue before abandoning the vehicle, the outlet reported. Paramedics took the motorcyclist to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead; the motorcyclist's identity was not immediately available.
LAPD Puts Up Maximum Reward
The Los Angeles Police Department announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the driver responsible, according to the same report. That figure represents the maximum payout under the city's hit-and-run reward program, which the Los Angeles City Council created by amending the Los Angeles Administrative Code on April 15, 2015, according to the LAPD. Under that program, a reward of up to $50,000 is available to community members whose tips lead to an offender's identification, apprehension, and conviction.
Detectives are asking anyone with information to call Detective Anderson of the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division at 818-644-8036. Those who prefer to remain anonymous can instead contact LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or through lacrimestoppers.org, per the report.
How Anonymous Tips Work
LA Regional Crime Stoppers notes that anonymous tipsters can collect a reward of up to $1,000, a separate and smaller payout than the LAPD's case-specific reward. The organization says tips are handled through a third-party service provider and that no personal information, phone number, email address, IP address, or location is ever requested, saved, traced, tracked, or monitored, according to LA Regional Crime Stoppers.
A Familiar, Unresolved Pattern
Fatal hit-and-run cases in Los Angeles do not always stay unsolved. In a separate case, a possible motorcycle struck a 72-year-old pedestrian on Western Avenue at 79th Street on May 4, 2023, and the vehicle fled; the pedestrian was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries, the LAPD said. In that case, a suspect named Mark Taylor eventually turned himself in at the LAPD's 77th Police Station on January 30, 2024, and was booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run causing death, according to the agency.
No arrest has been announced in the Studio City case as of Friday, and investigators have not released details about a suspect. The LAPD's Valley Traffic Division continues to seek witnesses who may have seen the blue Honda Odyssey minivan in the moments before or after the crash on Ventura Boulevard.
