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Alexander Brooks is seen in a recent photo on his computer monitor that sits with his recording equipment in his room. Brooks,19, was killed in a hit-and-run accident Monday night just around the corner from his home. Brooks was interested in producing hip-hop music and often recorded his friends in his bedroom that has a makeshift studio in a hallway leading to a rooftop deck. | See photo gallery. (John McCoy/Staff Photographer)

MISSION HILLS -- Alexander J. Brooks wanted to be an organ donor.

A year ago, the then-18-year-old Mission Hills resident told his fraternal twin brother: If I'm gone and I can't use my organs, I'd rather somebody be able to use them.

That was the kind of young man that Brooks was developing into, his family said, before he was killed by a hit-and-run driver Monday in Mission Hills.

Brooks, 19, was pronounced dead at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center after he was struck while crossing the street around the corner from his own home.

And in the end, his wish to become an organ donor could not be fulfilled.

Forty minutes after Brooks died at the hospital, his family gave permission for his organs to be harvested. Several hours later, they learned that police were not allowing the operation, citing an ongoing investigation.

The opportunity for the James Monroe High School grad to be a donor had passed.

It was disappointing, his family members said.

"But it certainly speaks to the type of person he is - was - and his gentleness," said Olivia Walker, Brooks' grandmother. "He was an amazing young man."

Brooks, who was studying business at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, was crossing the street at an unmarked crosswalk at Langdon Avenue and Lassen Street at about 10 p.m. He was heading home after visiting a friend with whom he recorded hip-hop music.

Brooks was almost there - the condo that he shared with his mother and two brothers was just around the corner.

Then, a driver headed west on Lassen struck Brooks so hard that the pedestrian was propelled 50 feet into oncoming traffic, where he was struck again by another vehicle. The first driver took off. The second driver stopped and called police.

Neighbors, who reported hearing a loud crash, could only describe the vehicle as a black sedan, with possibly some front-end damage from the impact.

His death was at least the third hit-and-run fatality reported this year in the San Fernando Valley, according to Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department. As of last week, there had been 1,968 hit-and-runs in the Valley since January, down 15 percent from the same period last year.

Brooks, who family members called "Allie," and "momma's boy," was an aspiring hip-hop artist who had spent the last summer living in a recording studio producing tracks in Northern California. He was self taught in piano, drums and guitar and learned through trial-and-error how to connect mixers and synthesizers to the computer.

He also converted a stairwell leading from his room to the rooftop into a recording studio measuring just two-feet by three-feet wide by plastering the walls with cardboard cupholders from McDonald's, egg cartons and mattress pads. He'd charge $25 for each track he produced.

"He'd say, `I'll make it work to my advantage'," said his aunt, Shawn Johnson, adding that Brooks was even able to stylize the thick glasses he had to wear because of vision problems. "That was typical Allie."

Friends often crowded eight to 10 deep as he laid out tracks in his room, surrounded by walls neatly covered with Brooks' own graffiti-style drawings, magazine covers of hip-hop and rap artists, and a math achievement award from James Monroe high.

"Allie was such his own man that people gravitated towards him," said Johnson.

"He trusted everybody," Jones said. "He was just that open, just that big-hearted."

Brooks had just completed his freshman year at L.A. Mission College and was about to start at the Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music in Hollywood in the fall.

Although he hadn't yet decided on a stage name - he sometimes used Yung Apaco, Soul Child, Allie Boy, AB2 - he had grabbed the attention of some music producers, such as those for rapper E-40. By last year, he had already produced and recorded his first song, "Never Fall," for which he had also written the lyrics.

Following a piano intro, Brooks sings about being raised single-handedly by his mother, a talent agent, and his father, who he had just begun reconnecting with in the last year.

"Ya'll ever wonder? If you were to have one parent in your life, possibly no parents in your life?" Brooks lamented. "Sometimes that happens. That one person you love may be gone."

For Aaron Brooks, Alexander's younger twin by 30 minutes, the feeling was all too fresh. He changed the screensaver on his phone to his twin's picture, sometimes staring at the photo, shaking his head and then breaking down.

"I hurt so bad in my heart," Aaron Brooks, who is deaf, wrote in texts and online. "I miss my brother. I lost my best friend."

The family plans to start a musician's scholarship in Brooks' name.

"Helping someone, that was his heart," Walker said. "That's what Allie would have wanted."

Anyone with more information is asked to call Valley Traffic Division detectives at 818-644-8020.

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or text 274637. Tips leading to an arrest can earn up to $1,000.

Hip-hop artist Alexander Brooks' MySpace page (with links to "Never Fall" and other music)

Photo (right): Aaron Brooks,19, is comforted by his older brother Stefon Morgan, 21, as they sit in their brother Alexander's bedroom. (John McCoy/Staff Photographer)

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A pedestrian killed by a hit-and-run driver in Arleta on Tuesday was identified today as Alexander Brooks, 19, of Mission Hills.

Brooks was fatally injured at about 10 p.m. Monday at Lassen Street and Langdon Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle was believed to have sustained front-end damage and was described only as black, according to authorities.

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From Daily News wire services:

ARLETA -- A pedestrian was fatally struck by at least one hit-and-run driver in Arleta, a police sergeant said today.

The hit-and-run crash was reported at 10:01 p.m. Monday at Lassen Street and Langdon Avenue, one block west of Sepulveda Boulevard, said California Highway Patrol Officer Patrick Kimball.

The victim was declared dead at a hospital, according to Los Angeles police Sgt. Rolland Cannon of the Valley Traffic Division.

The suspect vehicle, believed to have sustained front-end damage, was described only as black.

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From Daily News wire services:

RESEDA -- A man on a bicycle chased and caught a suspected drunken driver who led police on a chase that ended with a crash, a sergeant said today.

The driver, whose name was unavailable, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving and hit-and-run after crashing near Saticoy Street and Lindley Avenue about 9:20 p.m. Monday, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Rolland Cannon of the Valley Traffic Division.

Police backed off the pursuit just before the crash due to excessive speed, Cannon said.

The suspect ran a red light at Saticoy and Lindley, collided with a car, "barrel-rolled" the vehicle, got out and ran east, Cannon said.

Somebody on a bicycle saw the crash, followed the suspect and caught him, Cannon said.

A woman in the car that was struck complained of chest pain and was taken to a hospital to be checked out, Cannon said. She was later released.

By Jerry Berrios, Staff Writer

Jovanna Lugo always put her family first.

On Wednesday, that philosophy put her on a fatal path with an LAPD cruiser on a busy Sylmar street.

Lugo was making the short trip to her sister's house to pick up visiting relatives for an evening of hot chocolate and bread at her home.

It was too cold for them to walk so Lugo offered to pick them up. Her husband, Julio, stayed home, watching their 2-year-old son, Leonardo.

After all, she would be right back.

"She never made it," her father Jesse Lugo said Thursday.

Read the full story at the Daily News.

A LAPD patrol unit crashed into a car in the 12800 block of North Glenoaks Blvd. in Sylmar on April 21, 2010. One person was killed at the scene and two LAPD officers were treated for minor injuries. (Gene Blevins/LA Daily News)

From Daily News wire services:

SYLMAR - A 27-year-old woman killed when her car was struck by a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car in Sylmar was making a U-turn when the crash occurred, police said today.

Jovanna Lugo of Sylmar was killed in the crash, which occurred at Glenoaks Boulevard and Dyer Street at 8:10 p.m. Wednesday, said LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman.

"A black and white Los Angeles police vehicle was traveling northbound on Glenoaks and impacted the Corolla (driven by Lugo) as it was negotiating the U-turn," Eisenman said. "As a result of the collision, Lugo died at the scene."

The police car was not responding to a call, according to an LAPD Valley Traffic Division duty officer.

The two officers in the patrol car involved in the collision suffered moderate injuries and were taken to a hospital, Eisenman said.

See photo gallery at the LA Daily News.

Actress Heather Locklear was cited by sheriff's deputies at her Thousand Oaks home over the weekend after she crashed into a sign and left the scene, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

A resident in the 1100 block of North Lakeview Canyon Road heard a crash at about 4 a.m. on Saturday, but didn't call the sheriff's department until 8 p.m. to report the accident according to Capt. Eric Dowd.

At the scene, deputies found a downed traffic sign and debris, which they were later able to match to Locklear's black BMW. There was damage to the tire well on the passenger side.

The match was made after investigators examined surveillance video from a guard shack of a nearby gated community that showed Locklear entering through the gate around the time of the accident, Dowd said.

Locklear lives about half a mile from the scene of the crash.

Investigators had probable cause to believe that Locklear had been the one driving, and she was cited at her home for a misdemeanor hit-and-run, Dowd said. She was not taken into custody.

There was no evidence that alcohol was involved, Dowd said.

"It was property damage only and a fairly minor hit-and-run accident," Dowd said.

Locklear is scheduled to appear in Simi Valley Court on May 17.

"Ms. Locklear was cited with a misdemeanor traffic ticket as she is the registered owner of the vehicle," Blair Berk, Locklear's attorney said in a statement through the actress's publicist. "She was never taken into custody. The matter is still being looked into as it is not yet clear who was driving the vehicle."

Locklear pleaded no contest in January 2009 to reckless driving in Santa Barbara as part of a plea deal that dismissed a DUI charge. The charge came after she was arrested by a California Highway Patrol officer for driving erratically in September 2008.

She was sentenced to three years of informal probation and a $700 fine.

Police are asking for help in finding the drivers of two vehicles involved in separate hit-and-runs that left two men in serious condition in Van Nuys.

• A 43-year-old man who was riding his bicycle westbound on Oxnard Street just west of Fulton Avenue was struck by a truck driven by a male at about 12:17 p.m. on April 16 , according to the Los Angeles Police Department Valley Traffic division.

  
  
  According to witnesses, the truck was traveling westbound on Oxnard Street and was trying to pass the bicyclist when a metal object attached to the truck possibly hit the man, police said.

  The bicyclist was transported to a local hospital with severe injuries and was listed in serious condition.

  There was no further description on the truck.

  Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Jackson at 818-644-8020 or 818-644-8028


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• In the second incident, a man in his 30s was crossing the street on Victory Boulevard on April 17 at 8:25 p.m. when a car going eastbound on Victory hit him at the Willis Avenue intersection.

  
  
  The man was transported to a local hospital with severe injuries and is listed in serious condition.

  There was no further description on the driver or the car.

  Anyone with information on that incident is asked to call Officer Scott DeWitt at 818-644-8027.

  
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Two sobriety and drivers license checkpoints will be in effect Saturday in the North Hollywood area as police try to curb a 27 percent increase from last year in DUI-related accidents.

Checkpoints will be at:

• Lankershim Boulevard and Magnolia Boulevard, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.


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• Cahuenga Boulevard between Broadlawn Drive and Lankershim Boulevard, 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.


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There have been 61 DUI traffic collisions in North Hollywood since January, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

There will also be a checkpoint in the Pacific area at Lincoln Boulevard between Washington Boulevard and Maxella Avenue on Friday from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Since January, there have been 29 DUI-related crashes and 265 hit-and-runs in that area, LAPD said.

L.A. city and L.A. county firefighters work to free the victims killed in a crash on the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway just north of the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway in Newhall. Gene Blevins / LA Daily News

A bank account has been set up for donations to help with funeral costs of four children who were killed in a grisly three-car accident on the I-5 late Sunday in Santa Clarita.

The children, who were sitting in the backseat of a Nissan Altima that was rear-ended by a Chevrolet Suburban, were identified by the L.A. County Coroner's Office as siblings Xochitl M. Hernandez, 5; Edgar A. Hernandez, 8; Cynthia J. Hernandez, 9; all of Whittier, and their cousin Luis Villegas, 12, of Oakland.

Yessica Milan, the 27-year-old mother of the Hernandez children, was a passenger in the Altima and was hospitalized in critical condition. Luis Villegas was her nephew. The driver, Francisco Enciso, 25, of Daly City, suffered major injuries.

John "Jack" Blackburn

Those wishing to make a donation may go to any Wells Fargo Bank and provide Milan's name and account number 316-479-3865.

Also killed in the accident was John "Jack" Blackburn, 53, of Frazier Park. Blackburn, a brewmaster of 25 years at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Nuys, lost control of his Mazda pickup and crashed into the center divider.

Prosecutors on Wednesday declined to file charges against the driver of the Chevy that slammed into the rear of a Nissan on the rain-slickened freeway, killing the four children.