The hit-and-run driver of the minivan that struck bicyclist Damian Kevitt one morning near Griffith Park must have felt and heard the impact. He probably saw Kevitt caught on his hood. Yet as horrified eyewitnesses gaped, the driver — a young, well-groomed Latino — took off down the on-ramp to the 5 freeway, sucking Kevitt under his minivan and dragging him 600 feet.
Trapped facedown, the 36-year-old cyclist was battered against the pavement, shearing off parts of his feet and big areas of skin. As he tried to free himself by grabbing at the road, the ends of some of his fingertips were ground off.
Seconds later, a motorist saw Kevitt's bloodied body roll into the second lane of the I-5. Kevitt's life was saved only because the quick-thinking driver used his car to create a safety zone, shielding the victim's body from the freeway traffic rushing past.
After the Feb. 17 incident, doctors at County/USC Medical Center were forced to amputate Kevitt's shattered right leg. But they repaired his broken wrists, arms and ribs, and soon, Kevitt and his doctors will be engaged in a heroic battle to save his maimed left foot, possibly by transplanting a muscle and healthy veins from Kevitt's back. (A previous effort to transplant a muscle taken from his abdomen to his left foot failed.)
Sgt. Brian Brown of the California Highway Patrol, the lead investigating agency because the crime unfolded on a freeway ramp, says, "Damian remembers the sound of the van accelerating. One of our best witnesses was right behind the van, and he sees, all of a sudden, a body appear — rolling out."
Coverage by local TV stations, coupled with anger from the local bicycling community, has generated unusually strong interest in the case. On Sunday, two aides to state Assemblyman Mike Gatto, Justin Hager and Jason Insalaco, joined the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, L.A. Critical Mass, Midnight Ridazz, CHP and others to leaflet cars and talk to spectators, soccer players and dog walkers who use the Ferraro Soccer Complex near the Los Angeles River on Zoo Drive, where Kevitt was struck.
Many of them suspect that the hit-and-run driver attended or played in a regularly scheduled Sunday morning soccer game on Zoo Drive not far from the collision. They believe that a team member or a soccer fan knows the driver.
Investigators have a few important clues: The minivan, described as gray or white, bore a red-and-white "Se Vende" sign — and a phone number to call. According to CHP, that phone number, partially memorized by eyewitnesses, has a 213 area code and ends in 0776. A $25,000 reward offered by the city and the highway patrol seeks information that will lead to an arrest and conviction.
Colin Bogart of the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition, who was among those passing out flyers Sunday, says, "If any hit-and-run in Los Angeles is solved, it should be this one," thanks to media coverage and many eyewitnesses on Zoo Drive that day.
Insalaco and Hager have gone to the soccer fields every few days, passing out a flyer seeking the public's help. "We feel the driver almost had to be someone involved in soccer that day," Hager says.
Even as Gatto's aides work to drum up leads, the state assemblyman is tackling the bigger crisis. As the L.A. Weekly first reported, L.A. is in the grip of a little-discussed, decadelong hit-and-run epidemic. Drivers in the city flee nearly half of all collisions — more than 20,000 hit-and-runs annually. Nationally, 11 percent of collisions are hit-and-runs. In L.A., that rate has ranged in recent years from 42 percent to nearly 50 percent.
Yet as the Weekly has reported, the Los Angeles Police Department, famed for its Compstat system of tracking crime data in minute detail, produces only minimal statistics on hit-and-runs and frequently fails to immediately investigate when pedestrians and bicyclists get run down.
Last November, LAPD brass could not tell the Weekly how many people are hurt or killed annually in L.A.
On Feb. 22, when the Glendale News-Press revealed the shocking story of Kevitt's leg amputation, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck was readying a report ordered by the Los Angeles Police Commission and L.A. City Council in reaction to the Weekly's revelations. (Last fall, Beck refused to comment to the Weekly on any issues involving hit-and-runs.)
According to activists on an LAPD bicycle task force, Beck this month sent LAPD's draft report back for more work. Now due in mid-April, the report is expected to compare L.A.'s crisis to other large cities, according to Doane Liu, aide to City Councilman Joe Buscaino.
Bogart is among many who want hit-and-run convictions to lead to license revocations. He's worried "about what is going into the LAPD report. You would think they'd get input from people familiar with who is getting hit and how — a lot of bicyclists and pedestrians."
Meanwhile, on the state level, Assembly Bill 184, authored by Gatto, would extend the statute of limitations on hit-and-runs from one year to three years. The bill cleared the state Assembly Public Safety Committee several days ago.
So very sad.. This happened to my son, Michael Ray Vega on 8-28-12 in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. There has been an arrest, unfortunately my son was killed. We are riding every month in his memory. We are riding tomorrow morning from HB to Newport.. More awareness, stronger penalties.. Prayers for Damian for a full recovery. May you Ride On!.
"Gatto's staff has investigated another possible law — one requiring auto body shops to report suspicious damage to law enforcement via email — but says it will take time to assess the costs and technical challenges of implementing such a law."
The "costs" of sending an email? Are you kidding me?
@john John this is Jill Stewart and I really appreciate your comment and question. It turns out that the hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of body shops in the Los Angeles Basin have a strong tendency to not be online, and quite a few don't even have a shop computer but are paper-based. Many employ or are owned by illegal immigrants who want no contact with any authorities. And add to that the fact that "state workers" who have been granted salaries by the California legislature along the lines of 30% more than private sector workers in most endeavors. These state workers would have to be tasked with creating the system for outreach, sign up, and perhaps digitizing these shops -- we're probably talking millions of dollars. Plus, it can't be just a law for LA. It would have to be statewide or lawsuits would fly. So, tens of millions, I'm thinking? Why California doesn't work too well ...
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You got the last 4 digits of the phone number a major clue, only missing the first 3, odds are 1000 possible numbers, so get to work. People act so slow and if they moved right after, cases would be solved.
Also, cell phone companies keep a log of all cell sites at that date and time, and simply subpoena all major carriers, especally metro pcs since this was mostly likely an immgrant, and law enforcement can get the person that way.
Finally, investigate all registered vans within 20 miles.
Man, this case should have been solved a long time ago
@Outdoorlover1 Came here to say this but you beat me to it. There are only 1,000 possibilities for the perpetrator's phone number. This is NOT an unsolvable case.
A guy lost his leg. And this is the best the LAPD can do?
@Outdoorlover1 I agree. In fact, there are a lot fewer numbers than 1,000. With a Se Vende sign, the vehicle is probably commercial and hence it is a landline, commercial phone number. Even if the old days of Joe Friday, they could hand search the commercial 213 XXX-0776 in a couple hours.
When you find out who has that phone number, then you know who owns the van.
BTW, this should be classified as Attempted Murder and not a Hit and Run
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How can anyone point the finger at any group if almost no one is caught for their hit & runs?
Suzy.....Quit getting offended and quit throwing in the race card. I'm just saying it as I see it. Your lcomment only proves that non-latinos also commit hit and runs but face the truth.....latino drivers do make up the majority of hit and run drivers. It's like the latinos who cry racism when we mention the millions in welfare given to illegals. I suppose I am now a bad guy for not coming to the defense of reckless latino drivers?
Dear Rocker, Allen, Akers, and Gallergos... Before your racism gets out of hand read the following. Also FYI my brother was a hit-and-run victim, sorry to disapoint you Chealsea Akers, the person who hit him was not in the "no speak English" category. http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/03/29/victim-of-hit-and-run-where-louis-deliz-is-3-years-later/
More Americans of Mexican descent (like me) need to have the guts to agree with Old school, Chris, and Chelsea. Sometimes the truth hurts.
Sometimes the truth hurts...... but it really has a lot to do with illegals. I ride my bike everywhere and have been hit by the "no speak English " crowd too. TWICE.
@Chelsea Akers Do you ride in Benedict Canyon? If so, then you would be hit by English speakers.
A major problem with Hit and Run is that we forbid certain people to have drivers licenses and then prevent them from getting insurance. We need to make certain that anyone who drives in California, even if they came from Mars, gets a driver's license and that all cars are insured.
The penalties for not having a license can then be made much harsher; same with not having insurance. Finally, being convicted of Hit and Run should carry a mandatory prison sentence without regard to the degree of physical harm. I know we have no prison space, but that's because we have so many people in prison for drug related foolishness. Ironically, one facet of reducing Hit ans Run is to legalize drugs to make room in prison for people who DO bad things and not incarcerate people who get high.
That will not prevent all Hit and Run, but it would reduce the number of Hit and Run's.
How much you wanna bet that driver fled to Mexico long ago? Might be political incorrect to say but I can't help but notice these hit and run drivers seem to come from a very similar demographic. Nobody wants to bring that up but you everyone is thinking it. Some years back a guy backed his car into me, jumped out to look at the damage and when I asked for his license and insurance info gave me the "no speak English crap" hopped back in his truck and took off. Luckily I got the plate number. Turned out the truck wasn't even his.
@Chris Allen Did your insurance company pursue a subrogation claim against the truck's owner?
The LAPD is atrocious at all motor vehicle accident reporting. Whether a cyclist, pedestrian or in a car, they often refuse to even come out and make a report, even when there is extensive bodily and property damage. There needs to be serious reform, especially in a city that is so dependent on cars as the sole means of transportation. This poor guy. I'm glad to hear the CHP is involved though. They are very much a notch above.
@Brianna Socha LAPD Traffic is separate from regular cops. There are not enough of them because the city council chooses to give tax dollars to corrupt rel estate developers rather than adequate fund city services like paramedics, traffic officers, fire fighters etc.
I do not know how the LAPD assigns officers to Traffic, but from the experiences I have had over the years, it must be the dumping ground for the dumbest and most arrogant jack-offs around. My guess is that the LAPD feels that they can do the least amount of harm writing up traffic reports.
BTW, those who want to attack unions, get rid of pensions, and scapegoat public unions, better get used to an LAPD with a constantly deteriorating quality of officers. The more you abuse the officers, the more the decent ones will find work else where. Over time, this union bashing will degrade our city work force.
Because no one wants to say that the rise in Hit-and-Runs are mostly because of illegal immigrants. They drive like that in their own country and if they do stop, they will be arrested for no license, then deported. So, instead, they just keep going. More illegal immigrants, more hit-and-runs. Expect it to get worse.
I was hit by a car while biking a few weeks ago. Despite getting the whole thing on video, I had to beg LAPD officers to take a report. They said that since I wasn't injured and the bike wasn't damaged, it wasn't that important.
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