Drivers Help Seize Hit-Run Suspect

Two citizens who joined in chasing a man suspected of fatally striking a 12-year-old boy on a bicycle and then trying to flee the accident scene were credited by police Sunday with finally facilitating his capture in Wilmington.

“To call these citizens heroes is putting it mildly,” Los Angeles Police Officer Bill Whittaker said.

He called the more than 10-mile, high-speed chase “extremely dangerous and, really, unbelievable.”

Held in Harbor Division Jail on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated was Joel Espina, 23, of Los Angeles.

The boy, Carlos Grinaldo Jr. of Los Angeles, was pronounced dead at California Hospital.

Officer Ron Regan said the incident occurred about midday Sunday, when a pickup truck struck the boy, who was crossing the intersection of 43rd Street and Menlo Avenue near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The first citizen who gave chase was identified as Tim Pleasant of Los Angeles, a state Department of Forestry employee. A pedestrian at the accident scene, he immediately climbed into his own car and chased the damaged pickup.

Regan said Pleasant managed to momentarily corner the suspect at 54th Street and Western Avenue, where he told a second citizen what had happened and went to look for police. While he was gone, the driver of the pickup again fled, this time pursued by the second citizen, who Regan said had not yet given his permission to be publicly identified. Pleasant could not be reached for comment.