A suspected hit-and-run driver was arrested Wednesday after a crash in Playa del Rey over the weekend killed a mother who’d been visiting the beach with her family, officials said.
Darwin Dantzler, 39, was arrested Wednesday morning, said Mike Lopez, a media relations officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. Lopez was unable to provide further details on the circumstances of Dantzler’s arrest.
Booking records show Dantzler was being held on $50,000 bail following his arrest around 11:30 a.m.
He’s accused in the crash that killed 33-year-old Downey resident Wendy Galdamez around 11 p.m. Saturday on the 8800 block of Vista del Mar, a busy street that runs along the beach.
She’d spent the day at the beach with her husband and two children, and was cradling her 3-year-old son when she was hit by a dark-colored Toyota 4Runner, relatives said.
Galdamez died at the scene, while her son was hospitalized but will recover, officials said.
Loved ones have created a GoFundMe campaign to help the family through the grieving process. It had raised more than $6,000 of its $7,000 goal by Wednesday night.
Investigators have not said how Dantzler was connected to the crash.
He’s scheduled to appear in court Jan. 12, inmate records show.
