Audi Driver In Playa Del Rey Fatal & Run Suspected Of DUI: LAPD

PLAYA DEL REY, CA — A woman on a skateboard was fatally hit by a car Thursday morning in a hit-and-run crash in Playa Del Rey, and a suspect was later arrested, authorities said.

Officers sent to the intersection of Pershing Drive and Manchester Avenue about 1:15 a.m. found the victim lying on the roadway, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Paramedics pronounced the 48-year-old woman dead at the scene, according to the LAPD. Her name was withheld, pending notification of her relatives.

The woman had walked out of a nearby business and was showing a friend her skateboard when she went into the street and was struck in the No. 2 lane of Pershing Drive by a vehicle traveling northbound, according to LAPD Capt. Brian Wendling.

The vehicle, which kept going, was described as a black Audi A5, police said.

"Officers conducted a follow-up, (and) the driver of the Audi was subsequently arrested and the Audi was impounded as evidence," an LAPD statement said. "The preliminary investigation has revealed this is an alcohol- /drug- related traffic collision."

The name of the suspect was not immediately released.

Before the arrest, Wendling had appealed for the motorist to surrender.

"We used to call them traffic accidents for a reason and it doesn't become a crime at that point," Wendling said. "When you flee the scene like that, it becomes a felony crime. There's no reason to flee the scene."

City News Service