A cyclist was fatally struck in San Pedro Saturday and police are still searching for the driver after they fled the scene. Macy Jenkins reports for the NBC4 News on March 7, 2023.
A San Pedro family is mourning after a driver hit a father as he rode his bicycle, and then left him to die on the street.
Surveillance video from a nearby business captured what appeared to be a silver or light-colored Toyota Scion striking 51-year-old Oscar Montoya, sending him stumbling forward and his bike into a nearby fence. The car stopped for about three seconds before taking off.
“We’re all kind of in shambles. We’re in disbelief. We weren’t ready for this,” Montoya’s son, Joshua Montoya, said.
Joshua Montoya said the crash happened around 12:40 a.m. Saturday. His father was riding his bike on Pacific Avenue, just south of Channel Street, after picking up an order from a food truck when he was hit.
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Paramedics later pronounced him dead at the scene.
“My father was a big teddy bear, to put it in plain and simple terms. He was very loving, caring, very compassionate,” Joshua Montoya said. “And he was the type of person who worked hard for his family and put everybody before himself.”
Police are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person who killed Oscar Montoya.
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His son implored the driver to turn him or herself in, and he had a message for anyone who may know the suspect: “If you’re helping this person, think about it yourself. What if your father was hit and left lying on the floor dead, and you looked at him and you drove around him rather than getting out?”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
