One suspect caught, second sought in hit-and-runs

A man in his 20s was in critical condition after being struck by a hit-and-run driver early Friday morning in Pacific Palisades, police said.

Authorities were called around 3:05 a.m. after a man was found “on the side of the street next to the bushes” near the intersection of Chautauqua and Sunset boulevards, said LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman.

The person who found the man notified private neighborhood security. The man, believed to be about 23 years old, was taken to a hospital by the fire department before police arrived. His name was not released.

Eisenman said the circumstances of the incident are still unclear but that police were investigating it as a hit-and-run.

Detectives believe the vehicle that struck the man has front-end damage.

In another hit-and-run incident in North Hills, authorities said an SUV allegedly cut off another car, sending it into a flood-control channel.

The collision occurred about 7:40 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Parthenia Street and Noble Avenue, according to Officer Michelle Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Smith said two cars were traveling east on Parthenia when a Ford Explorer cut off a four-door sedan. The sedan then crashed into the wash.

The driver of the Explorer fled the scene, leaving the sedan’s four passengers with minor injuries, Smith said. The victims, which included at least one child, were transported to local hospitals, Smith added.

A witness procured the suspect’s license plate information and authorities later arrested a man in his 50s on suspicion of hit-and-run and DUI.

No additional information was available.

ALSO:

Man drives over South Bay cliff, falls more than 100 feet

High-speed street racing, DUI may have led to Woodland Hills crash

Authorities search for inmate who escaped from fire camp near Acton

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com

matt.stevens@latimes.com