March 21, 2022
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) wants to find the driver of a “dangerous stunt” in Echo Park just after midnight on Sunday and has released video from multiple angles that showed a rented Tesla being jumped over a hill, flying through the air, and then crashing into parked vehicles (video below).
The incident occurred at about 12:10 a.m. on March 20 in Echo Park when a group of people gathered to film a driver jumping a rented, black 2018 Tesla S-BLM at the intersection of Baxter and Alvarado Streets, KTTV reported.
Baxter Street is considered one of the steepest streets in the greater Los Angeles area.
LAPD said the Tesla launched about 50 feet in the air over Baxter Street and then landed and crashed into two cars and trash cans on Alvarado Street, KTTV reported.
The video showed a group of people standing at the intersection to film as the vehicle sailed past them.
The spectators ran behind the Tesla to watch as it landed and slammed into parked cars, the video showed.
After the crash, the driver of the wrecked Tesla jumped out of the car, got into another waiting Tesla, and fled the scene, KTTV reported.
Neighbors saw the Tesla driver make his getaway, KTLA reported.
“These kids were just running up and down the hill here,” Cliff Magreta described the scene after the wreck. “Three Teslas followed, and they basically jumped from one Tesla to another.”
Shortly after the wreck, videos of the jump began appearing on social media, including one by man who claimed to have been the driver.
LAPD released video filmed from multiple angles of the car jumping Baxter Street and the crash that ensued.
Jordan Hook, one of the Echo Park residents whose car was smashed, was angry afterwards,
“I heard the crash. I felt the crash,” Hook told KCBS.
He said his Subaru could not be driven after the Tesla slammed into it.
“The cringe worthy thing that gets your blood boiling isn’t necessarily the car jumping and crashing,” Hook said. “It’s the attitude of these guys and the fact that they’re so cocky about it. Then they just get up and leave after it’s done.”
“There’s a guy on YouTube getting a ton of fame and getting money for videos and stuff, and it just seems like it sets a bad precedent and leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” he told KTTV.
Neighbor Jonathan Sutak said he heard the crash, opened his front door, and saw headlights, KCBS reported.
“And then I went out to the road there was broken up garbage pails strewn everywhere,” Sutak recalled.
Police initially asked the public for help identifying the driver and asked “any witnesses to also come forward,” KTLA reported.
They offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the driver.
But by Sunday night, LAPD said it had received more than 50 tips on the driver’s identity.
“We have received over 50 tips and anticipate more due the story going viral,” LAPD’s Center Traffic Division tweeted. “Over 90% of the tips are of the same person who has a TikTok handle of @dominykas or @durtedom on Twitter. He is considered a person of interest based on the public postings on his account.”
Police said they had reached out to the suspect via his social media account, the New York Post reported.
LAPD Detective Juan Campos called the jump “a dangerous stunt,” KTLA reported.
“It never should’ve been done,” Det. Campos said. “I don’t know what they were thinking about. It could’ve gotten somebody killed.”
Police said that once apprehended, the driver will face hit and run charges, the New York Post reported.
