A 28-year-old man in New Mexico was arrested in the Christmas Day death of a 24-year-old woman at a South Los Angeles street takeover, police said Tuesday.
Dante Chapple-Young, of Orange County, was arrested Jan. 12, according to jail records. Police said at a Tuesday news conference with the victim's family members that Chapple-Young was considered a fugitive who left Southern California following the fatal crash and was arrested near Albuquerque.
Elyzza Guajaca, a nursing student, was fatally struck by a driver involved in the street takeover, which occurred around 9 p.m. Dec. 25 at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue. Police said Guajaca was standing with a group of people on the northeast corner of the intersection when she was struck by a black Chevrolet Camaro that was doing "doughnuts" during the street takeover.
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The Camaro struck a tow truck being used to block the intersection before it crashed into the crowd, police said.
Guajaca died at a hospital. The driver of the Camaro abandoned the vehicle and walked away from the scene, police said. Police had the Camaro in their possession the next day.
"Pretty much from the beginning we had some momentum," said LAPD detective Ryan Moreno. "There was a lot of coverage of what was happening. We started receiving tips from the public. By mid-week we had a person of interest."
Police released cell phone and surveillance images showing possible additional victims, and touted a $50,000 reward for information leading to the driver, while also asking anyone else who may have been injured to come forward.
Detectives allegedly identified at least six or seven additional victims who appeared to have been injured by the vehicle, thanks to videos from the scene. Some of them appeared to have been critically injured, authorities said.
Moreno said the suspect moved around the Southwestern U.S. in an effort to evade capture.
"This person was on the run, didn't want to be caught," Moreno said. "He was on a journey with a lot of traveling to get away.
"Some of the tactics to evade capture, it was like watching a movie."
Moreno did not provide details, but said the man was tracked down outside of Albuquerque.
Moreno told reporters in December that the department is doing what it can to crack down on street takeovers, and would like to see people face harsher penalties.
“I know one thing we're trying to do is trying to mirror some other cities where they take cars and they crush the cars, the cars are gone,” Moreno said. ``Right now our thing is we do the 30-day thing, take them for 30 days. And it is affecting it somewhat, but there's a lot, a lot going on, it's a lot. You guys see it's pretty widespread, a lot of people involved. On this night, there was probably I would say close to 200 folks, if not more, in the intersection.''
“My sister was an aunty to my beautiful girls who loved her so much,'' said Guajaca's brother, Louie. ``She was a beautiful sister who loved big. She was a daughter who always wanted to be with (family) around and have family time. She was the rock to our family. She was just a good, goofy, funny, outgoing person. She loved all her close friends and family.''
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson said he witnessed part of the deadly street takeover and called on Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council to declare a state of emergency on such takeovers, similar to the declaration recently issued by the mayor on homelessness.
“Street takeovers present -- as witnessed by the death at Florence and Crenshaw and numerous injuries to life and damage to property at other takeover sites in the city -- a grave problem for city officials,'' Hutchinson said in a statement.
“It has sparked community outrage and demand for stepped up action. A state of emergency will further empower law enforcement and citizens to concentrate time, energy and resources on this deadly problem.”
Anyone with any information on the crash was urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Tipsters may also visit www.lapdonline.org and click on “Anonymous Web Tips” under the “Get Involved-Crime Stoppers” menu to submit an online tip.
