Two riders were hospitalized and their horses likely killed when they were struck by a vehicle in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley on Friday night, officials said.
The hit-and-run crash happened in Lake View Terrace, a community near several stables as well as a 38-acre private “horse park,” about 9:45 p.m., said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Drake Madison.
“LAFD responded to find two patients in critical condition, who were transported to a local trauma center by firefighter-paramedics,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange said in a statement.
Madison said those riders subsequently stabilized and are “doing OK.”
The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, Madison said.
Police were looking for the driver, who they think may have been injured in the crash, which happened on a busy L.A. boulevard.
“The horses appear to be deceased on scene,” Prange said.