A motorcycle driver and passenger were killed in a hit-and-run crash in Tujunga Friday, police said.
The crash was reported about 8:40 p.m. Friday in the 7400 block of West Valmont Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
It was unclear how the crash occurred, but one of the victims was thrown from the motorcycle after the collision and was pinned under a car at the scene. Another victim on the motorcycle also suffered critical injuries and later died, police said.
The hit-and-run driver drove away from the scene, police said. The vehicle was found about a mile from the crash site, and the driver had apparently fled.
Officials have not released the victims’ names, but people who gathered at the scene for a vigil on Saturday identified the two as James Bellissimo and Ariane Turek, a couple who planned on getting married in the summer.
Video from the scene on Saturday shows mourners gathering by a fence, where photos, flowers and a U.S. flag were hung.
A man addressed the crowd at the vigil.
“James is my brother,” he said. “He gave everything he had to this country.”
Another man at the site said he had been playing pool with the couple before the crash. “I’m going to miss them both,” he told KTLA.
A woman who identified herself as a friend of the victims said Turek had been a domestic violence survivor.
“She was just sharing with me yesterday morning how, for the first time in her life, James made her feel safe…I’m just glad they found each other,” the woman told KTLA.
Officials provided no further details about the crash.
KTLA’s Irving Last contributed to this story.
