A 37-year-old woman was behind bars Thursday awaiting arraignment on murder and other charges for allegedly running down a man who was lighting fireworks on a Wilmington street on the eve of Fourth of July.
Rachel Gutierrez was arrested Oct. 10 in connection with the July 3 hit-and-run death of Juan Jose Areyan, 36, according to the Los Angeles Police Department and jail records.
She was charged two days later with murder, hit-and-run and driving under the influence, according to court records. She is due in a Long Beach courtroom for arraignment on Nov. 1.
According to police, Areyan was struck just after 9 p.m. July 3 while he was standing on Fries Avenue just north of G Street in Wilmington. Police said Areyan was with friends and relatives lighting fireworks when the driver of a speeding northbound vehicle ran a stop sign and hit him, throwing him more than 120 feet north on Fries Street. he landing under the front end of another vehicle that was exiting a nearby grocery store, police said.
The driver that struck him never stopped, police said.
“The speed is out of control,” LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno said during a Thursday news conference announcing the arrest. “I don’t know why people are driving so fast. Just no regard, no respect at all for human life. And this is another one of those kind of cases.”
Police said Gutierrez had been involved in a previous crash in which she allegedly ran a stop sign and struck some vehicles, but nobody was injured. They said she also has a prior criminal history for offenses including burglary and domestic violence.
She was being held in lieu of $3 million bail, according to jail records.
At the Thursday news conference with police, Areyan’s wife, Cassie, tearfully said she is hoping for justice for her husband.
“Although this does not bring him back, hopefully it brings us one step closer to getting justice for Juan,” she said.