Silver Lake Teacher Arrested In Hit And Run Of Homeless Man

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Los Angeles School teacher was arrested Tuesday in connection with a hit and run in Silver Lake that left a bicyclist severely injured.

Police arrested 52-year-old Los Angeles Unified School District teacher Molly Jane Hoene Tuesday for allegedly hitting the homeless bicyclist with her Mini Cooper in October and fleeing the scene. Hoene, a Silver Lake resident, came under suspicion when the owner of a body shop where the car was towed connected it to news reports of the hit and run.

According to police, she initially refused to cooperate with the investigation. They arrested her this week at the Silver Sands Racquet Club in the Riverside County city of Palm Desert, according to the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Traffic Division.

Hoene was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center with bail set at $50,000, police said.

Hoene was removed from the classroom at Ivanhoe Elementary School in Silver Lake, where she was listed in a directory as a fifth-grade teacher, when she became a person of interest in the case, according to media reports.

The victim, a homeless man, was struck about 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 in the 3000 block of Berkeley Avenue and suffered a broken leg, broken arm and fractured spine, according to the LAPD.

The damaged Mini Cooper was later towed to the Route 66 Collision Center at 6820 San Fernando Road in Glendale, prompting a call to authorities by the owner of the shop, who had seen reports about the crash on television, police said.

On Nov. 19, investigators presented their case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, which charged Hoene with one count of felony hit and run with severe bodily injury, police said.

A warrant was issued for the woman's arrest and she was taken into custody about 8 a.m., police said.

"Hoene is employed with the LAUSD as a teacher and she is currently assigned to ... (district) ... headquarters," police said.

Hoene's attorney told KNX-AM (1070) that his client would plead not guilty "and the facts as known to the police will show she is not guilty of this crime."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly identified the Mini Cooper as belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District.