Santa Monica: Police Investigate Pedestrian Accident That Killed UCLA Student Melissa Del-Aguila

Santa Monica police are investigating the pedestrian accident that killed UCLA student Melissa Del-Aguila early last Saturday morning. Specifically, they are trying to determine how she traveled from a sports bar in Brentwood, where witnesses reported seeing her at about 1 a.m., to the 2400 block of Wilshire Boulevard, where she was struck and killed by a taxi while running across the street at about 2:30 a.m. Given the 1.3 miles between the locations and the fact that Aguila was wearing 5-inch heels, investigators believe someone drove her and are trying to determine if she was fleeing that vehicle when she was hit by the cab, explains a California personal injury attorney. The Santa Monica Police Department has asked that anyone with information about this accident contact Detective Chris Dawson at 310-458-8954 or Sergeant Jeff Wiles at 310-458-8950. 

Santa Monica accounted for 114 of the 7,008 traffic accidents that killed or injured pedestrians in Los Angeles County in 2009, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s most current data. OTS compares the traffic safety statistics of counties in the state with similar populations, giving a higher ranking to those with the greatest number of victims or collisions per 1000 residents, with a ranking of 1 being the highest or worst. That year, Los Angeles County placed 3^rd out of 58 similarly sized counties. 

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of Melissa Del-Aguila, the UCLA student who was struck and killed last Saturday morning.

The Los Angeles Times originally reported this pedestrian accident.

Resources for victims and their families, such as links to pedestrian advocacy groups and books and articles on the injury and wrongful death claims process, are available to the public free of charge.

If you would like to request one of these free resources, or to discuss a specific legal matter with a California personal injury attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.