Police Vent About Lack of Help in Death During Street Takeover

Frustrated by the lack of help from witnesses, Los Angeles police have put up a $50,000 reward for information in their search for a driver who killed a bystander during an illegal street takeover on Sunday morning. Elyzza Guajaca, 24, was standing on a sidewalk at an intersection with other people when she was struck by a Chevy Camaro whose driver, who was doing stunts, lost control of the vehicle. She died at a hospital, the Los Angeles Times reports. The driver abandoned the Camaro and ran away on foot. The takeover took place at Florence Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood.

Police said it appears on video that five or six other people were seriously injured. "People are getting run over, hit, people are getting attacked, assaulted. We're waiting, like, 'Where’s the police report?' and they never come forward," said a police detective Wednesday in a press conference. "It's kind of sick in a way. ... It's kind of like a code I guess they go by, where somebody would get beaten nearly to death and they don't come forward."

Guajaca was "the rock to our family," said her brother Louie. She was a nursing student and worked at Los Angeles International Airport, per KTTV. Elyzza Guajaca became a fan of the car culture after seeing the first Fast & Furious movie, relatives said. Filming of the next installment drew protests in Los Angeles in August, per the Insider, by people who say the films have inspired illegal street racing and dangerous stunts near their homes. (More Los Angeles stories.)