A 21-year-old motorist who flipped his car on the 5 Freeway in the Sun Valley area Sunday was ultimately deemed to be the hit-and-run driver responsible for fatally striking an elderly pedestrian that same day.
The fatal hit-and-run took place early Sunday morning in the 8100 block of Lankershim Boulevard, just south of Roscoe Boulevard, according to City News Service. Los Angeles police Lt. Orlando Moreno, watch commander at Valley Traffic Division, says the incident was reported at 5:06 a.m.
The victim, a 74-year-old male pedestrian, was not in a crosswalk when he was struck, say authorities. Moreno indicates that the victim's belongings, "including his hat and glasses and other items, were scattered in the street." The victim was transported to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills where he later died.
The driver, however, fled the scene. Initially, officers conducting a manhunt in the area were unable to locate the suspect or his vehicle.
At an unspecified time that same day, officers responding to the scene of an accident on the 5 Freeway where a car had flipped over found Adrian C. Cervantes, who was determined to be the fleeing driver in question in the death of the pedestrian on Lankershim Boulevard, according to the Daily News.
Following transport to the hospital, Cervantes was arrested. Cervantes "was being held this morning on $50,000 bail," reports the Daily News.
The name of the pedestrian has not been released.
