ARCADIA >> Police arrested a driver they say fatally struck a 77-year-old pedestrian Wednesday night then fled the scene.
The hit-and-run collision took place about 9:45 p.m. on Baldwin Avenue at Arcadia Avenue, Arcadia police Sgt. Dan Crowther said.
An Arcadia woman was crossing Baldwin Avenue when she was hit by a northbound Ford Explorer Sport Trac pickup truck, according to the sergeant. The truck continued driving.
Multiple witnesses called 911 to report the crash and provide information, including the license plate number, of the involved truck, he said.
Pasadena police officers found and arrested the suspected driver a short time later at his home in Pasadena, Crowther said.
The woman was hospitalized in critical condition, he said.
Ed Winter, spokesman for the coroner’s office, said the woman died at Huntington Hospital at 2:03 a.m. on Thursday. He said the woman has not been positively identified.
Alex Danilo Cerna, 51, of Pasadena was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run, and felony driving under the influence.
Cerna is being held at the Arcadia police jail on $100,000 bail, according to county booking records. He was scheduled to appear for an arraignment hearing Friday in the Pasadena branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to call the Arcadia Police Department at 626-574-5151. Anonymous tipsters can call L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
Wednesday night’s incident was the third fatal automotive collision in Arcadia in just over a week.
Two young men and a young woman died, and another young man was seriously injured, in a solo-car car crash early Tuesday at Live Oak Avenue and Las Tunas Drive, according to police and coroner’s officials. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
A 42-year-old man died on the afternoon of Dec. 7 after he was struck by a vehicle while crossing Live Oak Avenue near 6th Avenue.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with police, authorities said. The cause off that crash also remains under investigation.
- By Brian Day and Ruby Gonzales
