The victim's bloody clothes sat in a pile and his mangled bicycle littered the street in the aftermath of the hit-and-run collision. Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department traffic division told Eyewitness News that the bicyclist was crossing eastbound at the 6700 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard at Archwood Street.
Traffic in the northbound number-one lane stopped, but a driver in the northbound number-two lane did not, and he struck the cyclist at about 35 miles per hour. The impact threw the victim 8 feet in the air.
Witnesses say the suspect, driving an SUV, fled the scene, continuing northbound on Laurel Canyon.
"The victim was transported to a local hospital via the paramedics and is receiving medical attention at this point and the condition is critical," said LAPD detective William Bustos.
The identity of the victim, a man in his 40s, was not released.
"We're trying to find out more about the victim," said Bustos. "We know that he was on his bicycle, possibly going home. We don't know yet if the family members are aware of this person who did not make it home, so we're trying to find information on both the victim and also on the person who is driving the sport utility vehicle that fled the scene."
The suspect's SUV was described as a dark-green Jeep Cherokee driven by a Hispanic male, with a female passenger inside. There is damage to the front driver's-side of the vehicle.
If you have information related to this case, you are asked to call the LAPD Valley traffic division at (818) 644-8000.
