Columbus police searching for driver involved in deadly hit and run

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus police are searching for the person responsible for a deadly hit and run early Wednesday morning.

The victim has been identified by police as 55-year-old Malvin Love. This occurred around 1 a.m. on East 5th Avenue in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood.

Watch: Police continue search for fatal hit and run driver

Police said Love was crossing the street and the 2012 Toyota Camry was driving west near Peter Avenue when they hit Love and kept driving. Witnesses said they saw the driver exit the Camry while it was still moving and run away. Police found the empty car, which they said was reported stolen weeks ago, not far down the street.

This is not the first time Columbus has seen a person in a stolen vehicle harm others. NBC4 asked Mayor Andrew Ginther what more needs to be done to prevent more tragedies like this.

“Continuing to work and asking the people to continue to work with the division of police,” Ginther said. “We’ve seen a 31% reduction in homicides in violent crime because the community is working so closely with the police. We’re seeing record high closure rates of getting criminals off the street that are engaging in dangerous and reckless behavior, like stealing vehicles and hitting innocent pedestrians.”

Police have not given a description of the suspect at this time. They asked anyone with information about the incident to contact them.

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