A suspected drunken driver who allegedly fled after he struck and fatally injured a man in a wheelchair, then returned to the scene and admitted being involved in the collision, was being held Friday on $100,000 bail, Long Beach police reported.
Jesus Jorge Arias, 37, of Lakewood, was booked on suspicion of DUI and hit-and-run, the Long Beach Police Department reported.
Officers found the 29-year-old victim lying in the roadway on northbound Bellflower Boulevard, north of Harvey Way, at 8:05 p.m. Thursday. The pedestrian, whose name was withheld pending family notification, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
“The wheelchair-bound pedestrian was attempting to cross Bellflower Boulevard eastbound in the crosswalk on the north side of the intersection when he was struck by Arias,” who was behind the wheel of a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling northbound, according to a Long Beach Police Department statement.
Anyone with information about the collision was asked to call Detective David Whelan of the LBPD’s Collision Investigation Detail at (562) 570-7355. Anonymous tips may be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).