Police have arrested a 23-year-old man in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, after CCTV footage showed him running into a cyclist and fleeing the scene.
CBS Local reports that the crash happened at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Thursday evening last week. Security camera vision shows a man riding a bicycle alongside Whittier Boulevard when a white Chevrolet Silverado comes into view, crosses the center divider into oncoming traffic and slamms into the cyclist head-on.
The impact destroyed the bicycle and sent the rider up in the air and down to the pavement. The Silverado driver then fled the scene.
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The Los Angeles Police Department announced a reward of up to $25,000 for information that led to the offending driver’s identification, apprehension and conviction or resolution through a civil compromise. Just a few hours later, 23-year-old Luis Raya-Flores was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and was being held in lieu of $80,000 bail. According to the police, the 53-year-old cyclist was taken to hospital with severe injuries. As of Tuesday afternoon this week, he was at home recovering.
“After the collision, the driver failed to stop to render aid, identify himself or herself and fled the scene in the vehicle,” the LAPD said in a statement. According to Detective Campos, Raya-Flores admitted to being the driver when he was questioned by the officers, and said he fled because he was panicked.