A skateboarder died in a collision with a car Tuesday night in Santa Monica, police said.
A compact vehicle heading south on 23rd Street struck the skateboarder near Ocean Park Boulevard after the boarder entered the roadway from an alley and “shot out in front of the vehicle,” according to Santa Monica police Lt. Saul Rodriguez.
Police responding to 911 calls at about 9:07 p.m. found the skateboarder on the ground with severe injuries, according to Rodriguez. Fire department paramedics transported the skateboarder to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 9:45 p.m.
Authorities were not releasing the identity of the skateboarder as they attempted to notify next of kin, officials said. He was a Los Angeles black man in his 20s, according to Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter of the county Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
The driver of the car is not considered a suspect and was cooperating with investigators, Rodriguez said. The driver, a Venice resident, was not speeding at the time of the collision and did not sustain any injuries.
Police have been sorting through conflicting witness statements, Rodriguez said. The incident remains under investigation.
Transportation accidents accounted for 784 deaths in Los Angeles County in 2013, the most recent year for which data were immediately available, according to an annual coroner’s office report.
Santa Monica in recent years has had a number of traffic collisions involving pedestrians or skateboarders that have resulted in death or severe injuries, according to Daily Press archives.
In 2011, an 80-year-old woman crossing Pico Boulevard near 26th Street was struck and killed by a car driven by a fellow senior citizen.
In 2013, a 54-year-old man was hit and killed by a motorist while walking across Lincoln Boulevard at Pier Avenue.
In 2014, a 20-year-old skateboarder was hospitalized after being struck by a hit-and-run driver near 17th and Marine streets.
