Stolen Amazon truck strikes, kills street vendor on sidewalk near South Park, police say

Thursday, February 17, 2022
SOUTH PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A suspect who allegedly stole an Amazon truck hit and killed a street vendor in the South Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles, investigators say.

The crash happened near East 48th and South Main streets Thursday afternoon.
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AIR7 HD video from above the scene showed the wrecked Amazon truck after it had crashed into a building near what appears to be a food stand. Three street vendors were hit by the truck.

One of the three hit was a man named Gustavo, who told Eyewitness News he saw the truck hit a parked sedan, as both came right toward him.

LAPD says the actual Amazon driver was delivering a package about a mile away, when the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Cristian Ramos Sanchez, somehow took control of the vehicle.

Police say Sanchez was driving the truck down Main Street when he crashed into a park car, jumped the sidewalk and hit the three street vendors.



When the car crashed, Gustavo did his best to jump away.

"I know I hit the wall, and I hit myself, but I can't feel nothing right now because I'm still shaking," Gustavo said.

A 57-year-old man was killed immediately. His name has not been publicly released.

Police told ABC7 the driver was taken into custody shortly after. LAPD Det. Juan Campos said a citizen who followed the suspect was able to help police find him three blocks away from the crash.

Sanchez was booked for felony hit-and-run and is being held on $85,000 bail.



As officers were responding, police say several officers were involved in a separate crash at MLK and McKinley Avenue.

Police say all of the officers involved in that crash were not seriously injured.
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