City Truck Hit, Killed Student On Way To School In Highland Park
HIGHLAND PARK (CBSLA.com) — A city street services truck struck and killed a 17-year-old boy Tuesday morning while he was walking to school in Highland Park, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Andres Perez was hit while walking in a crosswalk at the intersection of Figueroa Street and Avenue 60 about 7:30 a.m.
The accident site is less than a mile from Los Angeles International Charter High School at 625 Coleman Ave., where he was a senior.
Andrew Mares, who was the victim's best friend, visited a makeshift memorial. "He always made everybody laugh and smile, and I miss him."
"I didn't want to believe it at first, and then I just got confirmed, then just I cried and cried," Mares said.
Schoolmates wrote messages to Perez, who loved to skateboard and was on the baseball team. They said he was a good student who had just been accepted to film school at Cal State L.A. with dreams of becoming a movie director.
"We just kind of clicked. We just always making each other laugh," Mares said. "He was just always happy, had a smile on his face. He was funny, tried to make everybody feel good. I wish it wasn't like this. I wish I could see him again."
The truck's driver, a 27-year city employee, was distraught and did not realize he had hit the teen, said detective Meghan Aguilar of the LAPD. Investigators called the fatal crash an accident.
Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents the area, said the city employee who works for the Bureau of Engineering stopped immediately to help.
Among the flowers and candles at the memorial, there were also messages to city leaders, demanding safer streets for the neighborhood.
Highland Park resident Adam Bray-Ali said: "This is in the last 18 months, the fourth person that has died along this stretch of Figueroa."
"We need to put the bike lanes in. We need to put the improved crosswalks. There's speeding vehicles on Figueroa, and it needs to stop," Highland Park Resident Felicia Garcia said.
Los Angeles International Charter High School is not a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which shut down its more than 900 campuses because of a terror threat. But the charter school was closed as a precaution.