Crime & Safety

Grandmother of Family Hit by Elderly Driver on Meridian Dies

Guadalupe Chavez, 59, is the first casualty in last Friday's accident near Yorkdale Elementary.

By City News Service

One of five family members injured when they were hit last week by an SUV driven by an 87-year-old man as they crossed a Highland Park street has died, police said Monday.

Click here to read about that accident.

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Guadalupe Chavez, 59, the grandmother of the family, died Sunday. Her 10-year-old granddaughter Marina Carillo remained in critical condition, police said.

The collision occurred at 8:12 a.m. Friday in the 900 block of North Avenue 57, near Yorkdale Elementary School, Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

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A 32-year-old woman, a daughter of Chavez, and her two sons, ages 7 and 9, were listed in serious condition, LAFD Battalion Chief Steve Ruda said. The 10-year-old girl was a cousin, he said.

All three children were believed to be Yorkdale students.

The driver—identified in broadcast reports as 87-year-old Luis Carbajal—ran a stop sign as the family walked from Meridian Street to North Avenue 57 in a crosswalk, Richard French of the Los Angeles Police Department told City News Service.

Carbajal, who stopped after the collision and was cooperating with police, was not arrested, said Lt. Melody Hainline of the LAPD's Central Traffic Division. She did not confirm the driver's identity.

An area resident told NBC4 Carbajal said his foot “got stuck'' and he could not brake.

“He stopped in the middle of the street and he was just devastated,'' Wilson Caraman told NBC4.

The investigation continues.


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