A 47-year-old school janitor was arrested Thursday morning in connection with the fatal hit-and-run of a pedestrian in the Silver Lake area.
Cristina Garcia, 57, was found dead at the scene about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 1800 block of Hyperion Avenue, according to the coroner’s office and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Freddy Prieto was arrested about 9:15 a.m. and was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to sheriff’s inmate records.
He works as a janitor at Thomas Starr King Middle School, 4201 Fountain Ave. in Los Feliz, according to ABC7.
The school is just a few blocks from the crash scene.
Police scheduled an afternoon news conference at the LAPD Central Station to discuss the case.
Garcia was known to collect recyclables in the area to help pay her daughter’s way at Los Angeles City College, according to a gofundme page set up to assist her family. She may have been rummaging through trash bins when she was fatally injured, and she ended up beneath the bins and debris, police said.
The collision was likely caused by rainy weather and the driver may not have known he hit and killed someone, police said. Security video shows the driver getting out of the vehicle, appearing to check out the damage, then driving off.
Garcia had three children and one grandson.
“She loved her grandson,” her son Edwin Aleman told NBC4 at the crash site. “He’s 5 … and unfortunately he’s asking for her right now.”
The gofundpage was set up by LAPD Officer Ken Lew, founder of Badge of Heart, an organization that helps crime victims, their families and others in need.