UPDATED: 88-year-old Covina woman killed, son injured, in hit-and-run crash

0515_NWS_SGT-L-HITANDRUN

COVINA >> Officials are looking for a driver and his two passengers who left the scene of a crash that left an 88-year-old Covina woman fatally injured in front of her own home Wednesday night.
The two-vehicle collision was reported about 8:35 p.m. at Vincent Avenue and Cypress Street which is in the unincorporated county area near Covina.
California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said a 2006 Nissan Altima was traveling south on Vincent Avenue, approaching the intersection at Cypress Street.
It’s not known yet how fast the Nissan was going.
“The Honda began to make a left turn onto westbound Cypress Street, in front of the Nissan, when the front end of the Nissan collided with the passenger side of the Honda,” Jimenez said.
The Nissan continued heading south until it struck a large tree, he said. The Nissan’s driver and two passengers, described only as three Latino men, ran from the scene.
The 2005 Honda Accord was spun around and came to a rest within the eastbound lanes of Cypress Street.
0516_NWS_SGT-L-HITANDRUN2The Honda’s passenger, 88-year-old Livia Jansen of Covina, was pulled from the car in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived on scene. Officials performed CPR as she was put on a stretcher placed into an ambulance.
She was taken to Citrus Valley Medical Center — Inter-Community Campus where she was died from her injuries.
The driver of the Honda and Jansen’s son, 59-year-old Frank Jansen of Covina, was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Los Angeles County Fire officials said the injured were not believed to be life-threatening.
Investigators interviewed the registered owner of the Nissan as they searched the area for the suspects who ran from the wreck, CHP Officer Monica Posada said Wednesday night.
A helicopter used a spotlight to search the neighborhood from above.
Initial reports from the scene indicated officials were seeking a Latino man wearing black pants and no shirt with tattoos on his back and a clean-shaven Latino man of about 130 pounds,
Authorities cordoned off the area, which they treated as a crime scene. But the suspects eluded capture.
The cause of the collision was under investigation by the Baldwin Park office of the CHP.
Livia Jansen lived in a home at the corner of Vincent Avenue and Cypress Street, according to public records. A small memorial of flowers and candles marked the crash scene Thursday, along with a handwritten sign reading, “In loving memory of Livia J. May 14, 2014.”
No one answered the door at the Jansen home Thursday. A sign out front read, “Grandma’s house. Grandkids spoiled here.”
Richard Torres who lives in the neighborhood said he did not see the collision, but he heard it.
“We heard a car zooming by, then we heard the crash,” he said. He said he did not know which vehicle it was he heard speeding past his house.
Torres and other neighbors said the intersection has seen more than its fair share of crashes. Torres said the area seems to be popular with street racers, and he knew of five collisions at the intersection in recent weeks.
“This is a raceway,” he said. “Something has to be done. It’s getting ridiculous.”
Wednesday night’s crash was the first reported fatality at the intersection, CHP Officer Theodore Jolin said.
It was the sixth crash to take place at Vincent Avenue and Cypress Street so far this year, Jolin said. Most recently, a fire hydrant at the northwest corner of the intersection was sheared off May 1 in a two-car collision that injured two people.
Of the five previous crashes at the intersection this year, four were blamed on red light violations, Jolin said. One was caused by a left turn violation.
CHP officials handled five crashes at the intersection throughout 2013, Jolin said. Three crashes were reported there in 2012, preceded by seven in 2011, one in 2010 and 8 in 2009.
“It fluctuates,” Jolin said.
The CHP – Baldwin Park Area office is asking the public’s help in identifying the driver and two passengers in the Nissan. Anyone who has information is asked to call 626-338-1164.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email

One thought on “UPDATED: 88-year-old Covina woman killed, son injured, in hit-and-run crash

Comments are closed.