Authorities say the victim, Andriy Korshunov, was a Holocaust survivor and Ukraine war refugee who died late at night while walking with his dog across a San Fernando Valley roadway. Police have the luxury vehicle they believe hit him. They do not yet have the person who was behind the wheel, according to public statements and local reporting.
Crash on a Day Meant for Remembrance
According to a news release from the Los Angeles Police Department, Korshunov was hit while crossing Woodman Avenue in Sherman Oaks around 11:30 p.m. on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. LAPD described the vehicle as a Maserati and said the driver left the scene after the collision.
Reporting by Law & Crime, which first brought wider attention to the case, cites family members who say Korshunov survived the Holocaust as a child and later fled the war in Ukraine before settling in California. The crash that killed him took place on a day meant to honor Holocaust victims and survivors worldwide.
What Investigators Say Happened
In its public account of the incident, LAPD states that Korshunov was walking his dog in the 4400 block of Woodman Avenue when a Maserati traveling northbound struck them as they crossed the street. Officers said the driver was believed to be speeding at the time of impact.
Law & Crime, summarizing statements from investigators and witnesses, reports that the driver allegedly paused for a short time after the collision, then drove away instead of remaining at the scene. The Maserati was later found abandoned, only a few blocks away from where Korshunov and his dog were hit.
Both Korshunov and his service dog were killed, police and family members have said. LAPD has publicly classified the case as a fatal hit-and-run. In California, leaving the scene of a collision that causes death can be charged as a felony under state law, although police have not yet announced specific charges or identified a suspect in their official statements reviewed by Gotham Daily.
Family Grieves a Life Defined by Survival
Korshunov’s daughter, Ilana, has become the public voice for the family as they navigate their loss and call for accountability. Speaking to the Los Angeles station KTLA, she described learning that her father survived genocide and war only to die in a crosswalk near his home.
“He didn’t help him. He just hit and run,” she told KTLA. “He killed two souls. I don’t know what he thinks about this. I mean, what horrible person he has to be to do that. How come?”
In the same interview, she framed the crash in spiritual terms rather than legal ones. “God sees everything, and God sees what he’s done,” she said. “He has to do something. First of all, apologize to God for what he’s done.”
On a GoFundMe page created to help with expenses and memorial arrangements, Ilana describes her father as a man who “rebuilt his life” after the Holocaust and “carried his resilience with quiet strength for eight decades.” The fundraiser states: “He survived unimaginable horrors,” and continues, “My father survived history’s darkest chapter, only to have his life taken so suddenly and senselessly.”
The page also notes that Korshunov was a refugee from the recent war in Ukraine, adding another layer of dislocation and survival to his story. Those personal details, supplied by his family, are not independently verifiable through public records in the materials reviewed by Gotham Daily, but they align with how he is described consistently across interviews and the fundraising appeal.
The Search for the Driver
The LAPD news release confirms that investigators recovered the Maserati believed to be involved in the crash. The vehicle was located a short distance from the impact site in Sherman Oaks. Police have not publicly said who owns the car or who they believe was driving it at the time.
As of the latest reporting from Law & Crime and KTLA, no arrest had been announced in the case. LAPD’s public statement describes an ongoing investigation and asks for information from the community, a standard request in fatal hit-and-run cases.
Without a publicly identified suspect, several key facts remain unsettled. Police have not said whether they believe the driver was impaired, distracted, or fleeing another incident. They have not detailed how fast they estimate the car was traveling beyond describing it as speeding in secondary reporting. Nor have they released any information about potential passengers, if there were any, who might have witnessed the collision from inside the vehicle.
What is clear from the available records is the sequence investigators have outlined. An 80-year-old man and his service dog entered a crosswalk late at night. A Maserati, reportedly moving at high speed, struck them. The driver did not remain with the victims. The car was discarded nearby. The person responsible has not yet been publicly named.
For Korshunov’s family, the legal uncertainties sit alongside a personal history that already carried more documented trauma than most lives. They now wait for an answer to a narrow but central question that official documents and public appeals cannot yet resolve. Who was driving the Maserati that left an elderly survivor and his dog dead in a Sherman Oaks crosswalk?
