Woman Fatally Struck By Hit-And-Run Driver In Van Nuys
VAN NUYS (CBS) — A transient was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Van Nuys Saturday and police sought the public's help locating the suspect.
The fatal collision occurred around 5:40 a.m. at Victory and Van Nuys boulevards, Officer Gregory Baek of the Los Angeles Police Department said.
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Transient Struck, Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver in Van Nuys, KNX 1070's Bill Cooper reports.
Baek said the victim, identified as a woman in her 60s, was walking in the crosswalk on Van Nuys Boulevard when a vehicle, possibly a white Ford Explorer, hit her.
"The cart she was pushing was dragged for several hundred feet before it separated from the suspect's vehicle," Baek said.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the vehicle immediately fled the area, Baek said, adding that an off-duty police officer used his personal vehicle to block traffic next to the victim so she would not be run over again.
Investigators believe rain and wet pavement may have been a factor in the crash.
"The roads were slick and it's possible the motorist could not have stopped in time," said Los Angeles police Sgt. David Mascarenas of the Valley Traffic Division.
There was no description of the driver.
Police urged anyone with information regarding this collision to contact Valley Traffic Division detectives at (818) 644-8036 or (818) 644-8020.
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