At nearly 3:00 A.M. on the morning of June 16, a man was crossing Venice Boulevard heading North when he was struck by a black late-model Volkswagon Jetta heading west. The victims wife tells the story:
The accident occurred around 3am on June 16th. My husband was crossing the street (heading North) at Venice and Hughes. He had the signal to walk and once he was just past the median, he was struck by a car that ran a red light while headed West on Venice blvd. Two officers where in the area and after the accident, one of the officers took off after the car but lost him around Venice and Motor. The driver has still not been found.
Despite the media's obsession with reporting on traffic crashes and other forms of homicide, this report has gone largely un-mentioned in the news, perhaps because of the spectacular crash involving Christine Dahab and the Koreatown Cyclists just a mile and a quarter away that happened earlier in the evening. While I don't mean to sound as though I'm excusing Dahab's carelessness, the driver in this case is far more dangerous. It takes a special breed of criminal to leave a man dieing in the street because of your negligence and then speed away.
The LAPD is still looking for information related to this crime. If you know anything, please call the West L.A. Traffic Division Officer O. Osbourne at 213-473-0234. If you're calling after-hours or on the weekend, please call 1-877-LAPD-24-7.
