10-year-old boy in critical condition after East L.A. hit-and-run

Police are looking for a driver who ran into a 10-year-old boy in an East L.A. intersection and then drove on.

The boy was walking with an 11-year-old friend about 5:35 p.m. Tuesday in a marked crosswalk at North Main and Sichel streets in Lincoln Heights. A dark-colored car southbound on Main swerved to avoid the pair but still hit the 10-year-old, officials said. The driver didn’t stop after hitting the boy.

The boy suffered head trauma, a pelvic fracture and internal bleeding and was last listed in critical condition.

The hit-and-run happened the same day Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill for the second time that would expand the state’s alert system for incidents such as Amber Alerts.

The legislation would allow police to share details on hit-and-run drivers with the California Highway Patrol and display the information on freeway signs near the scene of a crash.

The so-called Yellow Alert system would be activated only about 50 times a year in Los Angeles, Gatto said, in cases where someone was killed or severely injured. Police also would need a solid lead: a full license plate number, a partial license plate and the description the car, or the identity of the driver.

Gatto’s proposal follows a Los Angeles Times report that found hit-and-run collisions involving cyclists had surged by 42% over a decade in Los Angeles County, while the overall number of hit-and-runs declined by 30%.

Anyone with information on Tuesday’s hit-and-run is asked to call LAPD Det. Felix Padilla at (213) 486-0753.

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