Crime & Safety

City Council Doubles Reward for Info in the Pali Hit-and-Run Death of David Pregerson

The family was already offering a $50,000 award. His father, a federal judge, said he believes the crime was likely committed by young people in their own community.

The Los Angeles City Council agreed today to double a reward to $100,000 in the Dec. 27 hit-and-run death of a federal judge's son in Pacific Palisades.

David Pregerson was walking on Chautauqua Boulevard, south of Sunset Boulevard, when he was fatally struck about 3 a.m. that Friday. He was declared dead at a hospital four days later.

Pregerson, a 23-year-old budding filmmaker who had recently graduated from UCLA, was the son of U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson and the grandson of U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Harry Pregerson. The family offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the driver.

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Today, the City Council agreed to double the reward in the hope it would lead to "the cowardly perpetrator who hit David and fled in the dark of night and hides from justice will be met with a $100,000 reward," City Councilman Mike Bonin said.

Pregerson's father, Dean, said he is "used to dealing with a lot of tragedies and a lot of sad things," having been a federal judge for 17 years. But he said was "just at a loss for words when something like this strikes so close to home."

Find out what's happening in Pacific Palisadeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He said he believes the crime was likely committed by young people in their own community.

"My wife and I are prepared to urge compassion for those who come forward, whether they are involved or witnesses," he said.

"We will do our best to understand your thoughts and consider what you have to say, but if you hide, if you perpetrate this tragedy further by protecting people, then, we will spend the rest of our lives trying to find you, and we will not feel that level of compassion and understanding," he said.

He also pleaded for any parent who knows his or her child was involved to come forward.

"We beg you to think about the long-term consequences" and the "burden" the crime will place on the child, he said.

Anyone with more information is urged to call Detective John Skaggs at (213) 382-9470, or the LAPD's round-the-clock tipline, (877) LAPD-24-7.

--City News Service


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