KTLA

Driver in fatal hit-and-run caught trying to escape to Mexico, LAPD says

A motorcyclist was killed in a hit-and-run crash in North Hills on Nov. 9, 2023. (TNLA)

The man who fatally struck a motorcyclist in a San Fernando Valley hit-and-run was caught as he tried to flee to Mexico, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Valley resident Sandro Edgardo Mendieta, 31, was captured “near the Mexican border” after investigators learned he was “attempting to flee the country to avoid arrest,” police said in a news release.

Police had been looking for Mendieta in connection with a Nov. 9 hit-and-run that killed another man – a motorcyclist in his late 50s.

According to authorities, Mendieta was driving a 1992 white BMW “recklessly at high speed” when he hit the 2008 Harley-Davidson at Woodley Avenue and Parthenia Street.

The motorcyclist was declared dead at the scene, while Mendieta fled the crash on foot, police said.

Mendieta faces a murder charge and is being held at the Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $2.03 million bail.

Information on his next court appearance was not available.