The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has identified the vehicle being sought in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash Oct. 19, the second of two deadly hit-and-runs in North Hollywood within 16 days. The vehicle is a yellow four-door, late-model Jeep Wrangler with a black top.
Investigators released a video showing the suspected Jeep. The crash occurred at approximately 2:20 a.m. on Sherman Way west of Lankershim Boulevard. The vehicle was traveling eastbound on Sherman Way when it struck the pedestrian in the road, outside the crosswalk.
The driver fled without stopping, continuing east on Sherman Way. LA Fire Department (LAFD) paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene; no information was provided about the victim.
LAPD Valley Traffic Division (VTD) detectives are also continuing their investigation of an earlier hit-and-run collision that killed a 71-year-old woman. On Oct. 3, a dark red Ford SUV traveling southbound on Lankershim Boulevard, north of Oxnard Street, collided with the female pedestrian as she crossed Oxnard – also outside the crosswalk – around 9:35 p.m. Immediately after the crash, the driver made a U-turn and fled north without stopping.
Hit-and-Runs: Local & Nationwide Issue
Both fatal hit-and-runs happened during national Pedestrian Safety Month. Despite the annual campaign, hit-and-run collisions remain a local and nationwide issue.
According to data from the 2025 LA Police Commission report, there were 99 deadly hit-and-runs in 2024, a decrease from 107 in 2023, but just over 15% higher than the number of crashes in 2022.
Damian Kevitt, executive director of Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE), a nonprofit organization that aims to improve street safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers, said that overall “traffic violence in Los Angeles is out of control and getting worse.”
“For the past three years, LA has had more traffic fatalities than homicides,” he said, noting that California Highway Patrol (CHP) data shows that in 2025, LA had 338 traffic fatalities, a 7% increase over the previous year, and according to the LAPD, as of last week, traffic fatalities were already running 14% higher in 2026 compared to last year.
“In September, Streets Are For Everyone and 40 other organizations … submitted an open letter asking the LA mayor and City Council to declare a local state of emergency due to the spike in traffic violence. … Nothing was done,” said Kevitt. “So many fatalities, so many hit-and-runs and our city leadership continues to treat these preventable tragedies as business as usual. How many more preventable tragedies on LA roads will happen before they start paying attention?”
Nationwide, a total of 1,939 pedestrians died in hit-and-run crashes in 2022. The number of deaths dropped to 1,844 in 2023 and dipped further to 1,749 in 2024, according to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Despite the diminishing numbers, pedestrian deaths related to hit-and-runs accounted for 25% of all pedestrian fatalities in 2024, an overall increase of 5% compared to 2015 through 2019.
In April, the LA City Council launched a Hit-and-Run Reward Program Trust Fund, which provides a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a hit-and-run driver who caused death, severe injury or property damage.
Anyone with information about these hit-and-run crashes can call Officer Lozon at (818) 644-8117 or Officer Reyes at (818) 644-8114. During non-business hours, the phone number is 1-877-LAPD-24-7.
Those who want to remain anonymous can call the LA Regional Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-222-TIPS or go to www.lacrimestoppers.org.