A pedestrian is dead after a driver struck him near a gas station in South Los Angeles and initially fled the scene, only returning after bystanders flagged him down, according to police. The man, identified as Bruce Frederick Buchanan Jr., later died at a hospital.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the collision happened near West Manchester Avenue and South Broadway in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood, close to an ARCO gas station, just before 4 p.m., per the Los Angeles Police Department. Police said the driver of a gray sedan was making a turn out of the gas station when he collided with a pedestrian who had fallen into the roadway.
A separate account from foxla.com describes a different set of circumstances: officers were called to the intersection of West 111th Place and South Olive Street, also in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood, around 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 19, after a car traveling northbound on Olive Street struck a pedestrian who was crossing the street. That report states the victim was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles City Fire paramedics and that the victim's name had not been released. The two accounts differ on the location, time, and manner of the collision, as well as whether the victim died at the scene or at a hospital, and this article does not attempt to reconcile those differences.
Conflicting Accounts Of The Driver's Actions
The accounts also diverge on what the driver did after the crash. Per the NBC Los Angeles report, the driver continued from the scene before officers arrived but then returned after bystanders flagged him down, remaining at the location while the Los Angeles Fire Department responded and for about 20 minutes after the pedestrian was transported, according to police. He reportedly did not provide his information before leaving.
By contrast, foxla.com reported that the driver did not stop to help and left the scene in an unknown direction. Authorities have not provided additional details about the driver or his vehicle, per NBC Los Angeles.
Pattern Of Hit-And-Runs In The Same Neighborhood
This is not the only hit-and-run tied to the Broadway-Manchester area. A 49-year-old motorcyclist was killed in an early-morning hit-and-run there after LAPD officers were dispatched to Broadway and 91st Street at 3:37 a.m. Sunday following reports of a two-vehicle collision involving a motorcycle, according to KTLA. In that case, police described the suspect vehicle only as a white sedan and said no further details about the driver were known.
South Los Angeles has also seen other high-profile pedestrian hit-and-runs in recent months. On September 22, a driver in a blue Nissan Sentra struck two siblings walking near 60th Street and 10th Avenue, killing 16-year-old Hernan Martinez and severely injuring his 14-year-old sister, Vicky Martinez, according to CBS Los Angeles. LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno said the Nissan ran a stop sign and was traveling faster than 80 mph before the crash. Police identified Raygine Glentasia Evans as the alleged driver, saying she and a passenger grabbed belongings from the car and fled on foot, and LAPD has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to her location, arrest and conviction.
A Citywide Problem Despite Safety Investment
The Broadway-Manchester incidents are part of a larger toll on Los Angeles streets. Traffic collisions killed 290 people across the city last year, including more than 150 fatal collisions involving pedestrians, according to LAPD data cited by LAist. That figure represented a 6% decrease in traffic fatalities compared with 2024, even as the city has invested nearly $350 million in its Vision Zero safety program.
Los Angeles County's own Vision Zero effort, which uses crash data to prioritize safety planning and projects in the communities most affected, points to the kind of systemic push behind those numbers, according to the county's Vision Zero program. Still, the discrepancies between accounts of what happened to Buchanan underscore how much remains unresolved in this latest case, and neither the driver's identity nor his vehicle's details have been made public.
