LOS ANGELES — Police said Friday they arrested the driver of a car that killed a University of Southern California student and badly injured another in a crosswalk in a weekend hit-and-run near campus.
The driver was a woman, Officer April Harding said, but her identity and other details were not immediately released.
Police planned an afternoon news conference.
Adrianna Bachan, 18, of Santa Barbara, was killed and Marcus Garfinkle, 19, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was seriously injured when a sedan ran a red light and struck them at 3 a.m. Sunday. The car stopped only so a passenger could get out and pull Garfinkle off the hood. He remained hospitalized with two broken legs and other injuries.
Bachan’s mother wept at press conference at USC after announcement of the arrest.
“We finally got one of them, the driver,” Carmen Bachan said.
“Nothing is going to bring my baby back but I do want justice,” she said.
Garfinkle’s mother, Barbara Vriegland, thanked detectives “for finding this person.”
“This was a heinous crime and I, too, want to see justice for our families,” she said.
The women spoke at a news conference held to formally announce that an anonymous couple added $100,000 to the $135,000 in rewards already being offered for information leading to arrests and convictions.
Police Chief William Bratton revealed the additional reward Thursday and that there was a third person in the car.
Police did not immediately say whether the rewards were a factor in the arrest.
Bachan and Garfinkle were returning to their on-campus residences when they were struck.