45-year-old woman in critical condition after getting struck by hit-and-run driver in Downtown LA
Police are searching for the driver who struck a 45-year-old woman crossing the street in Downtown Los Angeles, leaving her in the road as they fled the scene.
Veronica Lugo was crossing San Pedro Street a little before 8 p.m. on Sept. 8, when she was hit by a four-door Lincoln Town Car. Jarring surveillance footage of the collision, released by Los Angeles Police Department officers, shows the car slam into Lugo, throwing her into the air and scattering her belongings all over the road before speeding away from the scene.
"We're still looking for the suspect," said Lugo's daughter, Monica. "We haven't had anybody that has called."
She's stayed by her mother's side in the hospital since the incident, hoping that someone will come forward and admit fault in the moment that changed their lives.
"The doctors said that her brain was severely damaged. She had a hematoma on her brain and she's practically in a vegetative state," Monica said.
She describes her mother as a loving family matriarch, a caring grandmother and extremely outgoing and adventurous person.
With so much changed in less than a month's time, Lugo is desperate for answers.
"I need you to come forward," she said. "That's not okay what you did. You should have stopped. You don't just hit somebody and keep going."
Police believe that the Lincoln Town Car was made somewhere in between 2007 and 2011. It has a white-colored top and gold-colored bottom panel.
Lugo's daughter is still hopeful for the best.
"Right now she's breathing, she's fighting. We'll just have to wait to see what happens," she said.
LAPD's Hit-and-Run Reward Program offers anyone that contributes information leading to the arrest or location of a suspect up to $25,000.
