58-year-old bicyclist dies after being run over by van in South Los Angeles; driver sought

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A 58-year-old bicyclist died Friday night after being run over by a van in South Los Angeles; the driver, who at first tried to render aid, fled from the scene, authorities said.

The incident happened shortly before 5 p.m. at 49th Street and Compton Boulevard. Authorities said a man who was riding a bicycle fell on the ground in front of a van. The driver of that van ran over the man.

Authorities said it was likely that the woman in her 20s stopped to render aid, but at some point was picked up in a white pickup truck and fled.

Thomas Demetrius Adams was taken to a L.A. County-USC Medical Center, where he died.

"It is an accident. It originally was an accident," said Capt. Alfonso Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department. If the driver had remained at the scene, Lopez said, "that's all we would be looking at."

"It would be an accident that can be explainable," the captain said. "The fact that the individual has left the scene, it is now a hit-and-run."

Witnesses said neighbors rushed to the victim and tried in vain to pull him out from beneath the van.

"One of his legs lodged the tire, so they couldn't really pull him," said a woman who declined to be identified publicly. "I watched the struggle, them trying to get him. They just couldn't get him. But it was a lot of people trying to help this guy."

Adams is survived by a daughter and a grandson.

The investigation was ongoing.