Crime & Safety

LaBonge Announces $50,000 Reward to Find Hit-and-Run Driver in Sherman Oaks

A $50,000 reward will be offered today for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver who killed a 22-year-old man in Sherman Oaks earlier this month.

A gray 2010-2013 Hyundai Tucson crossover was traveling westbound on Ventura Boulevard near Kester Avenue about 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 18 when it struck the open driver's side door of a parked Ford Focus and two men who were standing in the street by the door, according to Councilman Tom LaBonge.

One of the men, a 21-year-old parking attendant, was not hurt, but the other, Ernesto Melendez of Van Nuys, the owner of the Focus, suffered brain injuries and later died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Find out what's happening in Sherman Oakswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Hyundai driver continued westbound, striking an unoccupied BMW, and fled.

LaBonge will be joined by Los Angeles police Detective Bill Bustos and Officer Danny Martinez this morning in announcing the reward. Members of the victim's families also are scheduled to be there.

Find out what's happening in Sherman Oakswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division at (818) 644-8000.

—from City News Service


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