Driver Flees Collision, Kills 1 in 2nd Wreck

A driver involved in an auto accident that injured two people in North Hollywood Tuesday sped away and crashed into another car seven blocks away, killing the occupant, Los Angeles police said.

Police said they are searching for the driver, who drove off again after the second crash.

Police said they were aided by information from a North Hollywood woman, who followed the car from the site of the first accident while her two children tried to determine its license plate number.

The woman, who asked that her name not be used because she fears reprisals, said the second accident occurred when the auto slammed into the rear of a smaller car that was pulling out of a parking space. The driver of the smaller car was identified by police as Alois Aufmuth, 80, of North Hollywood, who was pronounced dead at the Medical Center of North Hollywood.

Police said the first accident occurred when the suspect ran a red light and collided with a car driven by Mourad Gad of North Hollywood. Gad suffered head cuts and his wife, Souad, received four broken ribs, police said. Both were treated and released from the medical center.

The witness said that, after she saw the suspect drive away from the first collision, “I told my children to get a pencil and a piece of paper. I told my daughter to get the letters on the license and I told my son, ‘You get the numbers.’ ” Her daughter is 7 years old, she said, and her son is 9.

Police said the car used by the hit-and-run driver later was found abandoned on a North Hollywood street. Police said they are looking for the registered owner of the auto, who was not identified.

The fatal crash occurred on Whitsett Avenue, just south of Oxnard Street.