Hit-and-run driver leaves trail of devastation on Southern California street

Residents in an Encino neighborhood are hoping for justice after the driver of a pickup truck crashed into a half dozen parked cars over the weekend and then fled the scene, leaving behind heavily damaged vehicles and big repair bills for the car owners.  

The Aug. 10 incident unfolded at around 5 a.m. on Killion Street between Zelzah and Newcastle avenues.  

In surveillance footage of the incident, the driver can be seen barreling down Killion Street when he collides with the first parked car, the impact lifting the passenger side wheels of the truck off the ground as it violently grinds down the row of cars.  

As the truck continues, the driver’s side wheels also bounce off the ground, the vehicle eventually coming to a stop after impact with yet another parked car.  

“We’re not sure if it’s an F150 or an F250, but one of the two came down this street,” one of the vehicle’s owners, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade. “At a certain point, the driver seemed to lose control from the footage we’ve seen, and he started bouncing off the row of cars.”  

It was only three weeks ago that he and his wife purchased their red SUV, which sustained considerable damage in the hit-and-run crash.  

“He hit about five cars before he crashed on this red SUV over here and that’s when he just stopped bouncing,” he said. “He pushed that [car] kind of into the sidewalk and into the gray sedan in front of it.”  

In the footage, the driver, who is wearing long shorts and has what appears to be a ponytail, exits the vehicle and walks around the front of the truck to get a look at the damage before jumping back behind the wheel and leaving the area.  

“All five cars are heavily damaged,” the SUV owner added. “I don’t know if they’ve officially ruled them totaled yet, but they’re not drivable.”  

The couple lives down the street from where the crash occurred and were unaware that their SUV had been hit until several hours after the hit-and-run, when the wife had plans to go somewhere.  

“It was very upsetting,” she said. “It was devastating to come out here and see my car like that. It’s one of my worst nightmares, honestly, to lose my vehicle.”  

The couple filed a police report and placed flyers around the neighborhood in hopes that someone can identify the driver who caused the costly mayhem.  

“If anybody recognizes this person from the footage, contact somebody,” the man said. “If you see one of the flyers, contact the number or email address on that or the police.”