Driver Sought After Car Injures Woman

Los Angeles police were searching Sunday for the driver of a car that sped off after hitting and critically injuring a Van Nuys woman who darted into traffic.

Cindy Duggings, 35, was hit by a westbound car as she ran across Roscoe Boulevard at Sepulveda Place about 10:10 p.m. Saturday, Officer Frank Zdroy said. Witnesses said Duggings ran in front of the car, which knocked her to the pavement and sped off. Duggings was reported in critical condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

It was unclear why Duggings ran into the street, but Zdroy said the pedestrian had a blood alcohol level of 0.18%, more than twice the 0.08% level at which a person is considered legally drunk.

The driver of the car, a white Pontiac, was being sought on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, Zdroy said. It is unlikely that charges would have been sought if the driver had waited for police to arrive, he said, because the accident did not appear to have been the driver’s fault.

“It would have been real simple. . . . Now it’s a hit-and-run,” Zdroy said.