A pedestrian was struck and killed by a driver who fled the scene late Saturday night in North Hollywood, and investigators say they currently have no information about the suspect or the vehicle involved. Officers were called to the intersection of Oxnard Street and Lankershim Boulevard around 9:40 p.m. and found the victim lying in the street.
According to CBS Los Angeles, the driver had already left the area by the time officers arrived at the scene. The outlet reports that police said they currently have no information about a suspect or the vehicle involved in the collision. Scene video reviewed by the station showed LAPD officers had blocked off a large section of street while a white canopy covered the victim's body as the investigation got underway.
Victim's Identity Withheld Pending Autopsy
Police said the victim would be identified only after an autopsy and after next of kin have been notified, per the same CBS Los Angeles report. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner is expected to formally identify the victim once that process is complete.
The case falls under the jurisdiction of the LAPD Valley Traffic Division, which handles fatal collisions on surface streets across the 221.8-square-mile San Fernando Valley. The division has worked similar cases on the same stretch of road before: in July 2025, its detectives investigated another fatal hit-and-run on Lankershim Boulevard after a southbound pickup truck struck and killed a 52-year-old bicyclist before fleeing.
A Busy Commercial Corridor With a Troubled History
Oxnard Street and Lankershim Boulevard sit at the junction of two heavy-volume commercial arterials in North Hollywood, corridors that have previously drawn speed limit evaluations and safety planning from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, according to Streetsblog Los Angeles. Lankershim in particular has been the site of multiple fatal hit-and-runs in recent years. A separate hit-and-run on the boulevard involved an elderly man.
That history isn't unique to this corridor. Police were still searching for the driver after a separate hit-and-run near the 170 Freeway in North Hollywood in May 2026.
A Citywide Pattern of Traffic Deaths
The North Hollywood crash fits a grim pattern across Los Angeles. Traffic collisions killed 290 people citywide in 2025, with more than 150 of those deaths involving pedestrians, according to LAPD statistics reported by LAist — a toll that continues to outpace the city's homicide count. Evening hours between 6 p.m. and midnight are disproportionately dangerous for pedestrians, Los Angeles County Public Health data shows, a window that lines up with the 9:40 p.m. timing of Saturday's crash.
Hit-and-runs make up roughly 30% of all pedestrian fatalities across Los Angeles County, county public health data indicates, a rate that exceeds the national hit-and-run average of around 25% cited by highway safety groups.
Potential Penalties and Reward for Tips
Under California Vehicle Code Section 20001, fleeing the scene of a crash that causes injury or death is a felony punishable by two to four years in state prison and fines between $1,000 and $10,000, regardless of fault in the collision. The City of Los Angeles also maintains a standing Hit-and-Run Reward Program Trust Fund that can pay up to $50,000 for information leading to the identification, apprehension, and conviction of a driver in a fatal hit-and-run, under a 2015 amendment to the city's administrative code. Anyone with information about Saturday's crash is urged to contact LAPD Valley Traffic Division.
