On Monday, October 19, 2020, at approximately 9:26 PM, Hawthorne police officers responded to the 11700 block of Prairie Avenue regarding a major traffic collision. A witness reported an elderly female pedestrian on the ground and not moving. The witness also stated the involved vehicle had left the scene.
Responding officers found the elderly female unresponsive in the northbound number three lane of Prairie Avenue. Sadly, the pedestrian succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased by Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel. A witness had located a license plate nearby, possibly belonging to the suspect vehicle, and turned it over to officers. The California license plate returned to a 2017 Honda Civic, registered out of Los Angeles. Hawthorne Police Department Traffic Bureau investigators were called and responded to the scene.
Approximately one hour 45 minutes after the initial radio call, a male subject returned to the scene of the collision, and identified himself as the driver of the suspect vehicle. The male subject provided an account of the collision and acknowledged fleeing the scene without rendering any aid to the elderly female. The male subject also provided officers the location of his vehicle, which was parked in a residential area in the City of Torrance.
The male subject was later arrested and booked at the Hawthorne Police Department. The vehicle was located in the City of Torrance and was impounded as evidence pending further investigation. Family members of the pedestrian were at the scene of the collision and positively identified the elderly female for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s investigator. The cause of the collision is still under investigation.
Anyone with information related to the collision is asked to call Hawthorne Police Department Traffic Investigator A. Barlin, at 310-349-2707.