City Council Approves Reward Amount in Search for Hit-and-Run Suspect

Jose Granados told the L.A. City Council Tuesday morning about how his son, David Alexander Granados, wanted to become an emergency medical technician, but that dream would never come true because of a hit-and-run driver.

Council members sympathized with the father, who was joined by his family, and approved a $50,000 reward for information leading to the person who struck the 18-year-old Grant High School senior at a Valley Glen intersection and continued on.

"All we want is justice to prevail and that way our community can be a little bit safer," Jose Granados said. "It won't bring by son back, but it would at least give me some piece of mind that this person is in jail and wouldn't be outside doing more damage."

On March 24, David Granados was riding his bike along Oxnard Street near Bellaire Avenue when a he was struck by a vehicle that ran a red light, authorities said.

He died later at the hospital from his injuries.

LAPD Valley Traffic Division detectives say the driver could have been at the wheel of an Mercedes Benz ML SUV. Detectives also released surveillance footage of the vehicle near the scene of the accident

LA City Councilman Paul Krekorian addressed his colleagues as well and expressed his frustration with the frequency of hit-and-runs throughout Los Angeles.

He said in 2011, there were 760 cases of pedestrians being hit by drivers who flee the scene.

"We have all had to come to this podium far too many times to try to ask for help in hit and run cases," Krekorian said, adding: "We can no longer tolerate this kind of lack of accountability, this kind of lack fo responsibility to render help an assistance, this kind of cowardice that we see in this case and so many others."

Anyone with info about this case is urged to call Valley Traffic Officer M. Tucker at (818) 644-8063. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls can be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).

Anonymous tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads).  All text messages should begin with the letters "LAPD." Tipsters may also go to www.LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.