El Sereno mother searching for justice after hit-and-run driver injured her son with autism on Christmas Eve
Authorities are searching for a hit-and-run driver that severely injured an autistic man on Christmas Eve in El Sereno.
According to Los Angeles Police Department, the collision occurred at around 3:40 p.m. on Dec. 24, when the victim, 22-year-old Andrew Ramos, was struck by the driver of a green Toyota Tundra while walking his dog across a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Huntington Drive and Kendall Avenue.
Instead of stopping to help Ramos, who has high-functioning autism, the driver fled from the area and failed to render any aid.
The dog was uninjured, but Ramos suffered a broken leg that required surgery, which he is still recovering from.
"Can you just imagine the fright that I felt on Christmas Eve?," Ramos's mother, Valerie, said. "To hear my son was struck by a vehicle?"
Ramos was at his grandmother's house before the big family dinner, offering to walk to the store and grab some milk and butter moments before the incident occurred.
Now, his family is desperately seeking for justice and for the driver to turn himself in.
"He decided not to stop and left my son here, basically for dead," Melanie Ramos said. "I was a mixture of feelings. Mostly sadness, then anger and then just disbelief that somebody could do that."
Police believe that the Toyota Tundra's model is between 2007 and 2013, that it has custom wheels, running boards a bed cover and the windows are not tinted.
Detectives also believe that the suspect is somebody living close to the area.
"I have a suspicion that since it was Christmas Eve, all businesses were closed, people generally were not working that day," said LAPD Detective Juan Campos. "This driver was likely somebody from the community."
As they continue to search for the driver, the Ramos family plans to pass out fliers and ask anyone if they recognize the driver or the vehicle that ruined their holiday.
"Do the right thing. Step forward and own up to what you did wrong."
The City of Los Angeles is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the incident, as part of the Los Angeles Administrative Code created Hit-and-Run Reward Program Trust Fund, which offers the money for information that leads to the suspect's arrest, identification and/or conviction.
Anyone with information on this driver was asked to call LAPD's Traffic Division at (213) 833-3746.
