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$50K reward offered for info on driver in South LA street takeover
Los Angeles Dec 28, 2022
Elyzza Guajaca, center. | Photo courtesy of Louie Guajaca via GoFundMe
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Police released cell phone and surveillance images Wednesday showing possible additional victims of a South Los Angeles street takeover that killed a 24-year-old woman, touting a $50,000 reward for information leading to the driver who struck her, while also asking anyone else who may have been injured to come forward.
Elyzza Guajaca, a nursing student, was fatally struck by a driver involved in the street takeover, which occurred around 9 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue.
Police said Guajaca was standing with a group of people on the northeast corner of the intersection when she was struck by a black Chevrolet Camaro that was doing “doughnuts” during the street takeover.
She died at a hospital. The driver of the Camaro abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, police said.
Los Angeles police on Tuesday said detectives have identified at least six or seven additional victims who appeared to have been injured by the vehicle, thanks to videos from the scene. Some of them appeared to have been critically injured, police said.
Detectives released some of those videos Wednesday, showing some people being assisted into vehicles and driven away from the scene.
They asked anyone who was injured to come forward, and reminded residents of a standing $50,000 reward on offer for information that leads to the perpetrator of a fatal hit-and-run.
LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno told reporters the department is doing what it can to crack down on street takeovers, and would like to see people face harsher penalties.
“I know one thing we’re trying to do is trying to mirror some other cities where they take cars and they crush the cars, the cars are gone,” Moreno said. “Right now our thing is we do the 30-day thing, take them for 30 days. And it is affecting it somewhat, but there’s a lot, a lot going on, it’s a lot. You guys see it’s pretty widespread, a lot of people involved. On this night, there was probably I would say close to 200 folks, if not more, in the intersection.”
Guajaca’s brother, Louie, set up a GoFundMe page online to help raise money for her funeral expenses.
“My sister was an aunty to my beautiful girls who loved her so much,” Louie Guajaca said in the appeal. “She was a beautiful sister who loved big. She was a daughter who always wanted to be with (family) around and have family time. She was the rock to our family. She was just a good, goofy, funny, outgoing person. She loved all her close friends and family.”
The page had raised more than $23,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson said he witnessed part of the deadly street takeover Sunday night and called on Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council to declare a state of emergency on such takeovers, similar to the declaration recently issued by the mayor on homelessness.
“Street takeovers present — as witnessed by the death at Florence and Crenshaw and numerous injuries to life and damage to property at other takeover sites in the city — a grave problem for city officials, Hutchinson said in a statement.
“It has sparked community outrage and demand for stepped up action. A state of emergency will further empower law enforcement and citizens to concentrate time, energy and resources on this deadly problem.”
Anyone with any information on Sunday night’s crash was urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Tipsters may also visit www.lapdonline.org and click on “Anonymous Web Tips” under the “Get Involved- Crime Stoppers” menu to submit an online tip.
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