A 7-year-old boy died after he was struck by two vehicles while walking with his father on Figueroa Street south of 77th Street in South Los Angeles, and the driver of one of those vehicles fled the scene without stopping. The boy had run into the roadway around 10 p.m. Thursday while walking with his 39-year-old father, according to police.
The driver of the first vehicle to strike the boy stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators, according to MyNewsLA. But a second vehicle, described as a dark-colored, four-door sedan, then struck the child and its driver fled without stopping to render aid or identify themselves, per the same police account.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics rushed both the father and son to a hospital with severe injuries. The boy did not survive. The outlet's report does not address the father's condition following the crash.
Search for the Driver Who Fled
Police said a description of the hit-and-run vehicle was not immediately available beyond its dark color and four-door body style. The Los Angeles Police Department is now asking the public for help identifying the driver who left the boy and his father in the roadway.
Anyone with information about the crash or the driver has been urged to call Detective Nily of the LAPD's South Traffic Division at 323-421-2577. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
Another Hit-and-Run Weeks Earlier in South Los Angeles
The crash adds to a string of recent hit-and-run cases along South Los Angeles streets. Less than a month earlier, on Oct. 9, a man riding an electric scooter was struck by two separate hit-and-run drivers and died, as reported by NBC Los Angeles. That crash happened on Broadway, a different street from Figueroa, in the Florence neighborhood just before 10 p.m., and police said both drivers left without stopping.
A separate South L.A. hit-and-run described by a local law firm's case summary involved a light-colored sedan heading north on Western Avenue that struck two pedestrians near 56th Street, killing one and gravely injuring the other. And on Figueroa Street itself, near 75th Street, a 65-year-old man identified by CBS News Los Angeles as Chicago resident Jose Melesio was killed in a hit-and-run at about 3:10 a.m., with investigators searching for a driver in a silver four-door sedan that appeared to have a sunroof.
The investigation into Thursday's crash remains active, and no arrest has been announced. Police continue to rely on the public for leads as they search for the driver who left a dying child behind on Figueroa Street.
