Watch: CHP Cruiser Allegedly Flees Scene After Hit-and-Run
An alleged hit-and-run by a California Highway Patrol cruiser is being investigated after the incident caught on camera was revealed. It happened in East Los Angeles during a Friday night cruise-in on Whittier Blvd. KTLA-TV in LA revealed the video and that the boy’s mother is seeking justice for her injured son. So far the CHP has not responded to queries about the alleged accident.
Why was the CHP there?
Riding his bicycle on Whittier Blvd, 14-year-old Isaac Cota can be seen riding through car show traffic. A CHP cruiser slowly moves forward in an intersection. The Highway Patrol was on Whittier Blvd. to coordinate traffic backing up from the cruising.
As Cota rides in front of the cruiser it moves forward hitting the boy. The bad part is that it appears to show the cruiser backing up and driving away instead of stopping to help the boy. According to his mother, he limped back home injured after the incident.
Some tried to report what happened to other CHP
This happened on June 27, 2021. Community activists and the boy’s mother claimed the officer didn’t stop to help the boy. They also say several people tried to report the incident to other officers patrolling the area, but not one officer would take a report.
Luckily, it was caught by spectators on the cruise. Unfortunately, relations between the police and cruisers on Whittier Blvd have been contentious for decades. Disclosure: I used to cruise Whittier and am quite familiar with those poor relations.
“He was distraught, he couldn’t even focus his eye vision on me,” his mother told KTLA. “It was horrible, you could tell that something was wrong and he couldn’t talk correctly, he was slurring his words,” she said. Now she says even a month after it happened he still has a concussion and a shoulder injury.
Those interviewed are outraged
Several people familiar with the incident were interviewed and as one would expect they were outraged. “It was absolutely disgusting to see the video of them just hitting him and taking off,” one witness said. “And they didn’t even try to find out where his parents were or seek medical attention for him.”
Community activists want the driving officer’s name revealed and terminated from the CHP. Without a response from the CHP, it is hard to determine what will happen next. Hopefully, it will do an internal investigation and we can hear from the driver.
Admittedly, from the video, it is not entirely visible what happened. Maybe others have videos and will come forward to show a better view of the incident.
