LA County board doubles reward in Pomona hit-and-run

As family members struggle for closure regarding the death of Dwayne Armenta, a 36-year-old Azusa resident killed in a hit-and-run nearly seven years ago, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has doubled a reward that aims to help bring to justice the driver who fled the scene.

The initial $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver expired in 2021, and in July supervisors approved raising the reward to $20,000, documents show.

“The loss of my son has had a huge effect on me and his older brother and two older sisters,” Armenta’s mother Sandra Sanchez said. “He left behind a son that’s now 22 years old and a daughter that is now 11 years old, and every Thanksgiving just brings back all the memories of his death — that there is one less child at our dinner table, and me as his mother the pain never goes away. I struggle everyday not knowing how to get closure and justice for me and my family, the fact the person responsible for his death can live his or her life like nothing ever happened.”

Armenta was killed at about 2:35 a.m. Nov. 23, 2016, as he was trying to walk to a gas station after his Ford F-150 pickup truck ran out of gas on the eastbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway near the Kellogg Drive off-ramp.

In April a judge approved a nearly $1 million settlement on behalf of Armenta’s daughter after a lawsuit against Guy F. Atkinson Construction LLC and High-Light Electric Inc., contractors working in the area where Armenta was fatally struck. The lawsuit claimed roadwork in the area of the fatal collision created unsafe conditions on the poorly lit roadway and contributed to Armenta’s death.

The other plaintiff in the consolidated lawsuit was Armenta’s son, Devin Armenta of Claremont, who was 14 at the time of the hit-and-run. The terms of his part of the settlement were not made public. 

Caltrans contracted with Atkinson, which in turn hired High-Light to provide lighting for the renovation work known as the High-Occupancy Expansion Project, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jill Feeney said in her Dec. 27 ruling that green-lighted the case for trial. Feeney previously dismissed Caltrans as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“Unlike Caltrans, which had no duty to light its streets, (the companies) are contractors that have a duty to use reasonable care to prevent damage to persons whom they may reasonably expect to be affected by their work,” Feeney wrote. “Any immunities Caltrans enjoyed regarding liability for negligence do not extend to (the firms, which) remain liable for negligence in performing their contracted work.”

Authorities asked anyone with information related to the hit-and-run to call Officer Miguel Villasenor of the California Highway Patrol’s Baldwin Park Area at 626-338-1164 and refer to Report No. 9525-2016-12745. The reward expires Dec. 7.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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