LA mother of 4 seeks public’s help finding hit-and-run driver who left her severely injured

Editor's note: Some images used in this story may be disturbing to some viewers.

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles woman continues to recover from a brain injury after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver and left for dead. Nearly two years later, she pleads for the public's help with finding who did this. 

The horrific incident occurred in Sept. 2022 on what was supposed to be a quick night walk to a convenience store. Instead, Donna Harting was hit at the intersection of Kewen Avenue and Lankershim Boulevard in Sun Valley, on a marked crosswalk, by a dump truck around 3 a.m. Two weeks later, she woke up in the hospital severely injured with no recollection of what happened.

"If you hit a human being, you stop. You don't just leave somebody dead in the middle of the street. You know, I have a family. I have kids, you know, I'm really upset that [they] didn't stop," Harting said. 

She suffered a traumatic brain injury. She has long-term memory loss and can’t retain new memories. In addition, her doctors said she will have pain in her neck, back and knees for the rest of her life. 

Mauricio Herrera, the owner of High-Tech Diagnostics and Repair, said he couldn’t sleep for two nights after seeing surveillance footage of the crash. 

Herrera remains frustrated and said he knew something like this would happen one day. 

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He added he was given the runaround when he tried to contact authorities. 

"I called CHP, I called LAPD…they just bounced me back and forth…I kept calling and they didn’t do anything," he said. 

A posted sign shows vehicles heavier than 6,000 pounds aren’t even allowed on that particular roadway. 

"It looked like a movie, and it’s real," Herrera said. 

Video footage from the night she was hit shows it happening twice. Harting’s attorney, Paul Phillips, said he believes either the same driver came back to the scene, or a second driver altogether opted not to stop after seeing her body in the middle of the street.

Phillips said Harting was homeless for a short time. 

"I think unfortunately, in LA we don’t give consideration or give much thought to those people. But she’s a human being," he said. 

She’s also a grandmother of two. 

Those with information are asked to contact the LAPD.