Teen in Critical Condition After Hit and Run

A 22-year-old Crenshaw man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of hit and run after allegedly striking a 15-year-old bicyclist with his car and then continuing on his way to work, police said.

The 15-year-old, who was not identified, was in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange with severe head trauma suffered in the 6:57 a.m. incident, according to Fullerton Police Lt. Jeff Roop.

The suspect, Harold Lloyd Nicholas, was arrested a short time later at the Montgomery Ward department store at 1331 S. Harbor Blvd., Roop said.

Witnesses said the driver who hit the youngster in the 500 block of West Orangethorpe Avenue stopped to check his car for damage before speeding away with a flat tire, Roop said.

A car matching the description given by witnesses was found in the Montgomery Ward parking lot, about a half mile from the crash scene, police said.

“It was parked in a suspicious way, with the flat tire hidden from view,” Roop said.

Nicholas, a telemarketing worker, was confronted by police and eventually admitted that he was behind the wheel during the incident, Roop said. Nicholas is on parole for armed robbery, records show.