Tow Truck Driver Makes Plea After Being Seriously Injured In Hit-And-Run: 'Do The Right Thing, Turn Yourself In'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A tow truck driver made a heartfelt plea from his hospital bed to the hit-and-run driver who seriously injured him in East Hollywood last month: turn yourself in.
Gustavo Ventura was seriously injured in a hit-and-run while working to tow a vehicle on Virgil Avenue, just south of Clinton Street, on Feb. 6. He was immediately admitted into the intensive care unit with unspecified severe injuries, and has been hospitalized since then.
"Do the right thing, turn yourself in," Ventura said in a video released by the LAPD. "You've drastically changed my life. Not only did you affect me, you're affecting my children as well."
The LAPD also released surveillance video of the crash. Investigators say Ventura was wearing a reflective vest, had activated his light bar, and was taking a photo of the vehicle he was towing when he was struck by a red sedan driving south on Virgil. The car hit Ventura and launched him into the air, throwing him about 35 feet before he landed in the bed of his tow truck.
A $25,000 reward is available for information that leads to an arrest in this hit-and-run. Anyone with information can contact LAPD Central Traffic Division Officer G. Diaz or Detective Juan Campos at (213) 833-3713.
