Authorities continue to search for a driver involved in a fatal, allegedly intentional hit-and-run crash in the parking lot of BMO Stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles late last week that claimed the life of a teenage boy.
The deadly Nov. 22 encounter started, according to investigators with the California Highway Patrol, started around 4:30 p.m. with an altercation between a group of 40 bicyclists and a motorist in the area of Figueroa Street, north of Martin Luther Jr. King Boulevard.
Details are limited and it’s unclear what led to the confrontation, but the situation continued into the parking lot of BMO Stadium where the driver hit and killed a 16-year-old boy before fleeing the scene.
The teen, identified by family members as Jonathan Flores, was declared dead at the scene.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said that a crime like would not happen if there were stricter punishments for hit-and-runs.
“The penalties for hit-and-run, road rage are laughable,” the community activist told KTLA. “It’s a misdemeanor with only a few days in jail. You’re talking about a major, not only felony – it should be – but loss of life and yet we have such lax enforcement.”
Investigators are urging anyone with information about the involved driver or the investigation itself to contact CHP’s Major Crime Unit at 323-644-9550 or the L.A. Communications Center at 323-259-3200 after normal business hours.