Results tagged “hit-and-run” from Crime & Courts

Inglewood police are asking the public for leads to find the driver who killed a 58-year-old man and drove away.

Gilbert Carranza of Inglewood was killed on Prairie Avenue near 107th Street. A van driving south hit him at 10:20 p.m., police said.

Police believe the van was a 1995 or newer Ford Aerostar. It should have front-end damage.

Call Detective Jeff LaGreek at 310-412-5134 or 888-412-7463 if you know who did it.

This is a little north of the South Bay, so maybe this guy lives among us:

The LAPD just sent this out:

The Los Angeles Police Department is requesting any information on the identity of the person in this compositedrawing.pdf and the location of the described vehicle below.

On February 6, 2009, at approximately 1140 hours, a motorist was traveling westbound on Florence Avenue and Figueroa Boulevard in a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass, four door, gold in color with 22" chrome rims.

The license plate of the vehicle is 2DBL949. The impact of the collision caused a 6-year-old child to sustain a fractured femur and other injuries.

The motorist was described as a black male with tattoos on the side of his face, neck, and arms. The suspect exited his vehicle, and attempted to take away the cell phone from the hand of the victim's older brother, who was attempting to record the suspect's license plate number. The suspect then re-entered his vehicle, and fled the scene, failing to identify self or rendering aid to the injured child.

Contact South Traffic Detectives Antonio Lee or Connie Free 323-290-6063, Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. During non-business hours, weekends and holiday, call South Traffic Division's Watch Commander at (213) 485-7336.

Hitandrun.pdf

Rodrigo Guevara could have faced, at the most, four years in state prison for felony hit-and-run - despite his egregious driving that left one girl severely injured on April 9 in Wilmington. Deputy District Attorney Danette Gomez said she isn't angry with the judge for offering Guevara three years. She's angry that, without intoxication, that the max he could get was four years, according to California Vehicle Code Section 20001(a)(2).

It doesn't get much better when the victim dies. Gomez, who is also prosecuting Cristian Herrera for a 1992 double fatal hit-and-run in San Pedro, said he is facing only eight years and four months maximum if convicted.

Are you angry? You can channel that into something productive by contacting your state representatives. They're in charge of fixing the punishments. Not sure who to contact? Look here and enter your zip code on the left hand side, down a few scrolls.

Previous blog entries on Guevara are here.

I just got word that Rodrigo Guevara pleaded no contest in Long Beach Superior Court on Thursday to one count of felony hit-and-run. He'll return to court Nov. 4 to be sentenced to an expected three years in state prison. The maximum penalty the charge carries is four years.

Working on a fuller story, but don't have much more to add than that at this point.

To read previous entries about this case, click here.

I've written several stories over the years about unsolved crimes from the past. None of them 

have brought forward the tips to catch the suspect, and it's always quite disappointing.

A couple of months ago, police asked me to try again. Detectives at the LAPD's South Traffic Bureau told me they had this San Pedro fatal hit-and-run case with a named suspect they had not found since the crime in 1992. The guy had run to Mexico and had been wanted ever since. They suggested I put an article in the paper about him.

I did a little checking in our archives and found a few stories written at the time of  Fred and Ezna Crescitelli's deaths.

I decided to turn this into what we call a "Sunday Package," a more indepth article than what I usually do.  I found the Crescitellis' children and Eugene Pollack, whose wife, Joan, was also struck as she crossed the street with them that night.

More haggling over restitution and some unanswered questions led a judge to postpone sentencing today for the 8th time for Ruben Vargas, facing 16 months in prison for leaving the scene of an accident.

While a detective ticked off the traumatic injuries suffered by 14-year-old Kelsey Fukuda as a result of being struck while walking in a crosswalk by Rodrigo Guevara, the baby-faced Guevara - facing up to four years in state prison for leaving the scene of an accident -didn't show really any reaction. One of his family members, though, was obviously torn-up by hearing the impact her speeding brother had on the two Wilmington Middle School girls he hit.

The young woman cried when registered nurse Jackie Block testified about watching the collision, then getting out to check on the girls. "Thank you for stopping to help," she whispered to Block as she left the courtroom after testifying.

As Detective Charles Martin, trying to keep his own emotions in check, spoke of how Kelsey will probably never speak or walk again, the woman sobbed in the back of the courtroom.

It's awfully quiet here in the South Bay today, so check out this video released by the Hartford, Conn. police. Police Chief Daryl Roberts vented his frustrations to reporters the other day about the callous response -- or lack of response -- of residents to a hit-and-run last week. The entire scene was caught on surveillance video.

The videotape shows the 78-year-old victim lying injured the middle of the street as motorists and pedestrians pass by his paralyzed body.

"I'm ashamed to say our city has a toxic relationship with ourselves," Roberts said.

The raw video without any commentary is after the jump.

During a court hearing today, David Roberts, who is charged with vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run driving, was taken into custody on $100,000 bail. Roberts, 29, had remained free after a prosecutor, for unknown reasons, previously failed to ask a judge to set bail.

Roberts is accused of hitting and killing Bill Cunha near Carson on Aug. 12, 2007, then fleeing the scene. Various evidence, including his cell phone and DNA, linked him to the crime and he was eventually arrested and charged.

Despite his criminal history that includes arrests for drugs and reckless driving, Roberts was allowed to remain free on his own recognizance. Cunha's family and the detective handling the case believed this was an outrage.

Larry will have a full story on today's hearing in tomorrow's Daily Breeze.

I finally made head-way reporting on yesterday's hit-and-run in Wilmington that injured two Wilmington Middle School 8th Graders. The first hurdle was overcome when I figured out that the LAPD Media Relations office gave out the wrong name for the suspect. Rodrigo Tomas Guevara, 19, is being held on $500,000 bail and will likely be charged tomorrow with felony hit-and-run. He had a suspended driver's license, which I learned from a South Traffic Bureau detective after finally getting through to the Harbor Division's watch commander and being pointed in the right direction.

While I was rebuffed at the school, LAUSD Board Member Richard Vladovic was helpful and responsive. He and Earl Perkins, the assistant superintendent of school operations, let us know that the school and the girls' families are getting plenty of support and counseling from District crisis teams, as well as those sent by the City of Los Angeles. 

One of the girls, Kelsey Fukuda, is fighting hard. The 13-year-old suffered head trauma and is on breathing machines. Her friend, Elizabeth Salas, 14, is in serious condition.

Look for the full story in tomorrow's Daily Breeze and on www.dailybreeze.com.

And, of course, everyone here is wishing the girls and their families all the best.

I'm trying hard to update the story on the two 13-year-old girls who were injured yesterday in Wilmington by an alleged hit-and-run driver. What I'm up against in this endeavor are some pretty classic reporting hurdles exacerbated by two of the area's largest bureacracies: LAPD and LAUSD.

While trying to see how Wilmington Middle School administrators and students are dealing with this traumatic event, I stopped by to speak with a principal, assistant principal ... whoever would help. After checking in with security, showing my press credentials and receiving a visitor's badge, I waited at the main office for someone to see me. And waited. And waited.

After about 20 minutes I was told that no one would see me and, as I was digging out a business card, a woman strode by telling me she was an assistant principal. Guessing that I was to go with her on the premise that she would talk to me about such things as grief counselors and such, I stood up and walked beside her ... as she led me swiftly out the school's gates. She explained that I was not "invited" and the school was in "crisis mode," so no one could speak with me. I explained that I had a visitor's badge, so was thus "invited" on to the public campus and, yes, the crisis is why I was there. The community wants to know how the students and the classmates are feeling, and how the school is helping. No dice.

On the other end, I'm doing the usual reporter type things by trying to get information about the suspect, Rigaldo Guevas. However, it appears he hasn't been booked in the county jail - despite LAPD's media relations officers insisting he has. It's from a suspect's booking sheet that we get a birthday, which, in the reporting world, is the key to such things as driving and criminal records. Media relations won't release his birthdate, either. Attempts to reach someone at the Harbor Division so far have only been met with busy signals and waits on hold so long I've been forced to hang up.

So there you have it, a behind-the-scenes look at the hurdles we routinely face in our attempt to bring information to our community. Unfortunate, isn't it?

Garrett Ogushi's buddies at Beta Phi Omega fraternity have created a video/slide show in his memory.

The 24-year-old Torrance man died Feb. 24 when he got out of his car following a crash on the San Diego Freeway in Carson and was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Garrett was working on a master’s degree in physical therapy at California State University, Long Beach. He worked as a physical therapist in Hermosa Beach.

California Highway Patrol officers arrested the driver of the car Garrett crashed into. The driver was allegedly drunk and had slammed into the center divider in front of him. CHP officers also arrested two people who drove away after hitting Garrett.

I haven’t been able to find out what happened to all of these people, including who they are and whether they’ve been charged.

I will do my best to find out soon.

Here's the video. Note that it briefly contains some adult language: