A man in a wheelchair died in a hit-and-run crash in Long Beach Friday, and the driver suspected of hitting him was arrested about five blocks away.
Witnesses told police a white BMW sedan traveling south on Pacific Coast Highway struck the victim as he crossed at Seventh Street, Long Beach Police Department Lt. Eric Golz said.
Responding police officers performed CPR on the victim until personnel from the Long Beach Fire Department arrived and attempted life-saving measures, Golz said. But the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Video from the scene showed the unresponsive victim near a mangled and bloody wheelchair in the street as another man, with white hair and a white beard, was being loaded into an ambulance while receiving oxygen.
The driver, later identified as 23-year-old Ethan Chung of Irvine, was located along with a 2021 BMW at Second Street and PCH. He was booked into the Long Beach City Jail on $50,000 bail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and vehicluar manslaughter.
“The preliminary investigation revealed the pedestrian was in a wheelchair and traveling eastbound across Pacific Coast Highway at East 7th Street in a marked crosswalk” when he was hit by the southbound BMW, police said.
“The BMW came to a stop, then drove away from the scene without rendering aid to the victim,” according to a police statement.
Speed, distracted driving and impaired driving do not appear to be factors in the collision, which remains under investigation, police said.
Anyone with information about the crash was urged to call Detective Ashley Van Holland of the LBPD’s Collision Investigaiton Detail at 562-570-7355.
Anonymous tips can be submitted through LA Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or visiting www.LACrimeStoppers.org.