Suspect in fatal hit-and-run arrested after 16 years
CRIME: Man was wanted in connection with 1992 crash that killed elderly couple.
By Larry Altman Staff Writer
Article Launched: 08/08/2008 12:05:37 PM PDT


Among the items found in the car that Herrera was a passenger in when he was arrested was a suitcase packed with clothes. Herrera was reportedly heading for Mexico. (Scott Varley/Staff Photographer)


This a recent DMV photo of Cristian Faustino Lopez Herrera, suspect in the hit-and-run deaths of Fred and Ezna Crescitelli. Suspect was on his way to Mexico. For more breaking news on this story, see
» Crime & Courts blog.

(Read Larry Altman's original story about the 1992 hit-and-run deaths of Fred and Ezna Crescitelli: http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9937592 )

A man sought for 16 years in the hit-and-run deaths of an elderly couple in San Pedro was captured Friday as he tried to flee the country, police said.

Cristian Faustino Lopez Herrera, 36, who had been living under the alias Oscar Lopez Herrera, was taken into custody about 10 a.m. at Santa Cruz Avenue and Gaffey Street in San Pedro, police said.


Fred and Ezna Crescitelli were killed by a hit and run driver in 1992 in San Pedro. (Photo courtesy of the Crescitelli family)

He had a large suitcase in the back of a sport utility vehicle, a pocketful of cash and identification in both names, police said.

"He said he was heading to Mexico," Los Angeles police Detective Dennis Duran said.

Police believed Herrera first fled to Mexico following the March 22, 1992, crash that killed Fred Crescitelli, 82, and his wife, Ezna, 78, as they crossed Pacific Avenue at Fourth Street. A warrant was issued in Mexico for his arrest, but it expired long ago.

Apparently believing the coast was clear, Herrera lived for at least the last five years at various locations in San Pedro, including the same address in the 700 block of Fifth Street that he called home nearly two decades ago.

His own co-workers at the San Pedro Brewing Co. on Sixth Street tipped off police when they recognized his photograph in the July 20 edition of the Daily Breeze. The photograph of Herrera at 19 years old accompanied an article that recalled the Westwood couple's deaths and attempts to find the suspected driver.

"He disappeared that morning," a pub employee said. "He was to supposed to show up for work."

Following the tip - which was given to detectives investigating a stabbing at the Crimsin bar in downtown San Pedro - a second one arrived through the "America's Most Wanted" Web site from another person who had read the article.


1992 photo of Cristian Faustino Lopez Herrera, suspect in the hit-and-run deaths of Fred and Ezna Crescitelli.

The caller provided more detailed information on where Herrera was living.

Police obtained a search warrant to monitor Herrera's cellular telephone with a global satellite positioning tracking device.

By this week, a task force of Los Angeles police officers and FBI agents had determined he was back in San Pedro and staked out the Fifth Street apartment building.

On Thursday night, "Oscar" arrived at the San Pedro Brewery Co., asking for his paycheck, an employee said.

Friday morning, undercover detectives were watching when Herrera and a brother left the apartment and drove off in the blue sport utility vehicle.

Officers pulled the vehicle over near a Taco Bell on Gaffey before they could get onto the northbound Harbor (110) Freeway.

"You're kidding! Oh, that's wonderful," said Monica Crane, the Crescitellis' daughter. "They got him just in time. When the story came out, he decided he had to take off."

For 16 years, the Crescitelli children had wondered if Herrera ever would spend any time in jail for allegedly running down their parents.

Fred Crescitelli was a retired UCLA science professor who had conducted research on vision and still taught extension courses. His wife, Ezna, kept the house, raised their three children and entertained friends with elaborate meals at her home.

The Crescitellis enjoyed dinner their last night together at Raffaello Ristorante with friends Eugene and Joan Pollack.

Eugene Pollack said he was a few steps ahead of the others as they crossed Pacific Avenue to walk to their cars. The Chevrolet Camaro coming south at 60 mph missed him, but hit the others.

Fred Crescitelli died in the street. His wife died the next day in a hospital.

Joan Pollack required hours of surgery and months of rehabilitation. She died of cancer in 1999.

Police found the Camaro abandoned nearby, and tied it to Herrera. The car was registered to Herrera's brother, Martin Lopez, who told police his brother was driving.

At the time, police believed Herrera left the country.

Recently, detectives asked a reporter at the Daily Breeze to do a look-back at the case. They had no knowledge of Herrera's whereabouts, but suggested that people who once lived in San Pedro often return.

"I never thought we'd catch him. I really didn't," Duran said.

Pollack, a retired surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Harbor City, said Friday he was surprised to learn an arrest was made.

"They caught him? Good heavens," Pollack said. "So the article paid off. I am astonished."

Los Angeles police officers credited the news article with bringing forward the tipsters that helped find Herrera.

"I'm pretty happy that this one is solved," Detective Antonio Lee said.

Herrera was booked at the LAPD's Parker Center jail on suspicion of two counts of vehicular manslaughter and another of hit and run.

He was held without bail. Federal officials are also investigating his immigration status.

"It's now time he paid his dues," Crane said. "I'm glad he now has to at least think about a little of what he did and feel some of the pain himself."

At the San Pedro Brewing Co., workers and patrons read an article on the Daily Breeze Web site about the arrest of a man they considered a friend.

Herrera worked as a bar back, a bartender's assistant.

"He has been the nicest guy," said San Pedro resident Kimberly Walton, a pub regular. "I was shocked. I was floored he had anything to do with anything like that."

Walton called Herrera a "great guy that made a mistake" when he was 19.

Herrera is expected to appear in Long Beach Superior Court on Monday or Tuesday.

"I'm really pleased," Pollack said. "It doesn't help with the losses, but nonetheless (provides) some measure of satisfaction that he has to pay some penalty for what he did."
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