Woman arrested in fatal weekend hit-and-run crash in Redondo Beach
A 21-year-old driver suspected in a hit-and-run collision in Redondo Beach that left a pedestrian dead was taken into custody on Monday.
Leila Gonzalez, of Bell, was arrested on suspicion of hit and run causing death after admitting to driving a vehicle that struck a woman at the Aviation Boulevard and Grant Avenue intersection on Saturday night, according to a Redondo Beach Police Department statement.
The pedestrian was walking through the intersection shortly after 9 p.m. when she was struck by a vehicle traveling southbound on Aviation.
The pedestrian—who has been identified by Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office officials as Angelina Pinedo—died from injuries sustained in the crash, while the driver left before police arrived.
Shortly before 8:30 a.m. Sunday, officers found a disabled vehicle believed to have been involved in the fatal crash in a residential area a short distance from the intersection where the collision occurred, according to police. Damage believed to have been sustained in the crash left the vehicle inoperable, police added.
Detectives “following up on one of the many investigative leads” in the case located Gonzalez about 1 p.m. on Monday, according to the police statement.
Pinedo’s family could not be reached for comment on Monday. But in earlier interviews with other media outlets, family members indicated Pinedo had been in town visiting her sister when she was struck and killed.
Speaking to a reporter for the local CBS affiliate on Sunday, sister Martha Pinedo-Torres said Angelina Pinedo was a kind person who wanted to be a social worker. She was adopted by family members when her own father was killed in a hit-and-run accident, Pinedo-Torres told the station.
Pinedo was raised in Rosemead and was currently enrolled at San Francisco State University.
She also worked at Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach. A receptionist at the club acknowledged she worked there, but a spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone message Monday.
A witness who arrived at the scene of the accident just a few minutes after it occurred, Jugo Schwyzer, said that many people from nearby bars on Aviation Boulevard were on the street trying to help.
“Somebody who clearly cared about her was frantically trying to do CPR. It may have been a relative or a friend because they were very distraught,” Schwyzer said.
Police say the fatal collision is still under investigation, and are asking anyone with information to contact Investigator Clint Daniel at (310) 379-2477 ext 2721 or via email at [email protected].
