The Los Angeles Police Department released new surveillance video of a street takeover that claimed the life of a young woman as they seek others who were also hit by an out-of-control vehicle.
Six to seven people may have been injured – some severely – during the deadly Christmas Day takeover that killed 24-year-old nursing student Elyzza Guajaca in South Los Angeles, LAPD detective Ryan Moreno said during a Wednesday morning press conference.
“Some look severely injured. There were probably two or three of them that were getting carried away and we don’t know who they are. They haven’t surfaced, we haven’t been contacted and for all we know they could be laid up in the hospital somewhere,” Moreno said.
The driver who struck Guajaca and the others abandoned the Chevrolet Camaro involved in the crash and ran away. Police are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.
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Guajaca was standing on the northeast corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue around 9 p.m. when the Camaro driver, who was doing “doughnuts,” lost control of the vehicle, hit a tow truck and careened into a crowd, Moreno said. Guajaca later died at a hospital.
Police have impounded the tow truck and Camaro but are searching for two other vehicles that were also doing doughnuts at the time of the crash, the detective said.
Moreno said the department is doing what it can to crack down on street takeovers, and would like to see people face harsher penalties.
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“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.''
