Recent UCLA Grad Hit and Killed by Taxi on Wilshire

By Lookout Staff

June 23, 2011 – A young woman struck by a taxi cab on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica early Saturday morning has died of her injuries.

Melissa Del-Aguila of West Los Angeles was hit in the 2400 block of Wilshire Boulevard near Douglas Park. Witnesses said they saw her run into traffic into the path of a Bell Cab travelling westbound. Bell Cabs is one of the five companies allowed to operate under a city franchise. She had been celebrating her recent graduation from the University of California at Los Angeles with friends at the Q's Billiards in West Los Angeles. She was last seen at Q's at 1 a.m. and police say they don't know how she made her way to Santa Monica.

Police arrived on the scene of the accident at about 2:30 a.m. and Del-Aguila was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.

Del-Aguila, 24-year-old, is described by police as a Hispanic woman, four foot ten inches tall weighing 95 pounds, with long straight brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a light floral colored blouse, dark blue skinny jeans and white shoes with 5” heels at the time of the accident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Chris Dawson at (310) 458-8954 or Sergeant Jeff Wiles at (310) 458-8950 or the Santa Monica Police Department (24 hours) at (310) 458-8495.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call WeTip at 1-800-78-CRIME , or submit the tip online at www.wetip.com. You will remain completely anonymous and may be eligible for a reward, up to $1,000.00, if your information leads to an arrest and conviction.

Callers can also contact Crime Stoppers by either calling (800) 222-TIPS, texting from your mobile, or by visiting their website at www.lacrimestoppers.org. Callers may remain anonymous and may be qualified to receive a $1,000.00 reward by Crime Stoppers.