The fiancé of a Sylmar woman killed by a hit-and-run driver in Glendale is asking for the public’s help in identifying the person behind the tragedy.
Eric Linares says he hasn’t been the same since his bride-to-be was killed last month. He and his fiancé, 43-year-old Erika De La Riva, were struck by a driver as they traveled on a freeway in Glendale after leaving a family dinner. That driver, who rear-ended the couple at high speed, took off as the couple suffered serious injuries.
The impact of the crash was so powerful that the couple’s car slammed into a guardrail and then rolled multiple times on the freeway before coming to a stop. When their car finally stopped rolling, Linares noticed De La Riva was no longer in the car and had somehow been ejected onto the freeway.
“So we’re both wearing seatbelts. After the vehicle came to a complete stop, after the rolling, and I looked to my right, she was no longer there,” Linares said. “The seatbelt was buckled. It was still buckled. However, the seat had reclined backwards, I believe from the impact.”
Linares said he was stuck in the vehicle after the crash, only able to get out after the California Highway Patrol helped him. He added that a truck driver tried to help the couple.
“The truck driver came across all lanes,” Linares said. “I remember the truck driver flashing the vehicle, flashing the incoming cars with his flashlight. That’s when I noticed that my fiancé was on the road, where she was fatally struck by incoming vehicles, as well, too.”
Linares says CHP has dash cam footage from nearby vehicles the night of the crash. The hit-and-run driver was in a white or silver pickup truck.
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to report it to CHP.
