Police Seek Driver in Fatal Hit-and-Run Crash

Police were searching Sunday for a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a 36-year-old Winnetka woman and seriously injured her 3-year-old son.

Maritza Huete was pronounced dead at Northridge Hospital Medical Center from massive trauma about 10 p.m. Saturday. Her son was in serious condition Sunday with multiple abdominal injuries, hospital officials said.

Witnesses told police that Huete and her son were crossing Roscoe Boulevard near Penfield Avenue in Winnetka about 7:30 p.m. when a red Isuzu Amigo truck traveling east struck the two and kept going.

Huete and her son were yards away from a traffic light on Winnetka Avenue, but not in a crosswalk, police said. A motorist who saw the accident while traveling west on Roscoe Boulevard turned around and followed the fleeing truck. He later gave police a full description of the incident.

The child’s father, Lenar Olivas of Winnetka, was at his son’s hospital bedside Sunday, said Brande Manning, a nurse supervisor.

The death of Huete, who would have turned 37 in a few weeks, is the 23rd traffic fatality in the San Fernando Valley this year, said Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Steven Allen.

The accident occurred less than a week after Ron Bergmann, deputy commanding officer of the LAPD Operations-Valley Bureau, asked patrol officers to write more traffic tickets. Roscoe Boulevard is one of the streets that Bergmann had singled out for stepped-up enforcement.

The Valley has recorded five more traffic fatalities so far this year than in the same period last year, police said.

LAPD Valley Traffic Sgt. Roger Archambault recently said that speeding motorists and pedestrians who ignore traffic safety procedures, such as using crosswalks, are among the leading causes of fatal collisions.

“If people slow down it will save lives,” said LAPD Valley Traffic Sgt. Charles Swanson.

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When crossing the street, pedestrians should make sure cars know they are there, he said.

“You gotta look, make eye contact--especially [when] with children,” Swanson said.

Police are looking for information about the 1988 to 1990 model Isuzu with damage to its left front side, including the headlight. Anyone with information is asked to call LAPD Valley Traffic at (818) 756-8381.