A murder charge was filed Monday against a hit-and-run suspect accused of leading police on a chase that ended with the death of a slumbering transient outside a pharmacy in Los Alamitos.
Azael Yovani Gonzales Mendoza, 22, is accused of killing 71-year-old Richard Manuel Lopez.
Arraignment was rescheduled for April 10 at the Criminal Justice Center in Santa Ana.
The victim was killed about midnight last Wednesday at the C & H Pharmacy at 4012 Katella Ave., near Bloomfield Street, according to Sgt. S. Krogman of the Los Alamitos Police Department.
Cypress police attempted to stop a vehicle allegedly involved in a hit-and-run, but the driver pulled away and led police on a chase. The motorist, later identified as Mendoza, was driving about 80 to 90 mph during the chase, which ended when the vehicle jumped a curb and struck Lopez before slamming into the pharmacy, police said.