Two die in two hit-and-runs

Two people were killed in separate hit-and-run accidents over the weekend, authorities said.

In Van Nuys early Sunday, police arrested an 18-year-old man suspected in the hit-and-run death of a 59-year-old man.

Joel Morales was booked after allegedly driving his green 1992 Honda Accord into the victim, a resident of Van Nuys, who was crossing Hazeltine Avenue south of Califa Street about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Officer Marjan Mobasser of the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he died. Morales was arrested about 3 a.m. by the Valley Traffic Division and was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

In the second hit-and-run, near Dodger Stadium, Jose Francisco Silva, 48, was killed shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday by a car that may have run a red light, police said.

Silva, a Pico Rivera resident, was crossing Broadway in a marked crosswalk at Bishops Road when he was struck by a vehicle driving south on Broadway, Mobasser said. He died at a hospital.

Authorities said witnesses described the car as a white or tan Chevy Suburban or Jeep Cherokee, which sped away from the scene.

The car’s front end was damaged and the windshield may have been cracked, police said.

Late Sunday, the LAPD said an Inglewood man, Tavion Tyree Singleton, 19, surrendered to detectives in connection with the incident.

Witnesses told police that the vehicle struck Silva twice. The first impact threw him onto the hood of the car, which ran over him when he slid to the pavement, said LAPD Sgt. Kara Silverstein.

-- Victoria Kim