LAPD searching for SUV that drove away from deadly crash in Sylmar
Authorities say a teenage driver was killed when his vehicle collided with a pickup truck in Sylmar.
The crash occurred just after 11:45 a.m. Sunday in the 13800 block of Foothill Boulevard, south of Sayre Street. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a silver Ford Mustang was traveling at a high rate of speed southbound on Foothill Boulevard when it swerved into oncoming traffic.
Police believe the driver was attempting to avoid hitting a vehicle that was exiting a store parking lot.
The driver of the Mustang then hit a Toyota Tundra pickup truck. The driver was identified as 18-year-old Emilio Aragundi. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
"Emilio was a really hardworking kid. He was affiliated or in the streets or doing anything bad" said friend Bruno Gonzalez during a vigil Monday night. "He took care of his mother. He took care of his girlfriend. It sucks. They took one of the good ones."
Aragundi was reportedly driving to his job at the nearby Jack in the Box. He graduated in the spring from the Cesar Chavez Learning Academy. He was enrolled at California State University in Northridge. He dreamed of becoming a radiologist.
The Los Angeles Fire Department took the 58-year-old man driving the pickup truck to the hospital with minor injuries.
Detectives are searching for the driver of the silver SUV that was reportedly exiting the parking lot. Police said they "suspected the driver caused a no-contact traffic collision and didn't stop." Officials said that even if a car does not make contact with a vehicle in a crash it can still be considered a hit in a run in the driver does not stop.
Police believe the silver SUV was made in the early 2000s. They said they are looking for a female driver and male passenger who were reportedly shopping at a nearby grocery store before exiting the parking lot.
