The coroner’s office Friday identified a 34-year-old Los Angeles man who was fatally injured in the Leimert Park area when he lost control of the motorcycle he was operating while being pursued by police.
His name was Derek Todd Richardson, officials said.
He crashed about 10:40 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Leimert and Martin Luther King boulevards, said Sgt. Dana Adams of the Los Angeles Angeles Police Department’s South Traffic Division.
“The motorcyclist was driving recklessly and a police officer tried to make a traffic stop,” Adams said. “The motorcyclist refused to stop and was going the wrong way on a one-way street when he hit a passenger vehicle and crashed.”
The motorcyclist died at the scene, Adams said.
The death investigation was being handled by LAPD’s South Traffic Division. Anyone with information on the crash was asked to call police at (323) 421-2540.
—Staff and wire reports