A 68-year-old man was arrested Monday on suspicion of an alcohol-fueled, hit-and-run fatal collision with a bicyclist in Huntington Beach.
Elias Madriz Gutierrez of Orange was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily injury and second-degree murder, according to Huntington Beach police.
Gutierrez is accused of hitting 51-year-old transient Kristin Bellovich just after midnight at Beach Boulevard and Glencoe Drive, police said. The victim’s name was not immediately released.
Gutierrez was behind the wheel of a gray 2023 Ford Bronco that struck the woman and allegedly fled, police said. The victim was southbound in the far right lane on Beach north of Glencoe when she was struck from behind, police said.
Gutierrez has prior DUI convictions in April 2018 and January 2009, which allows prosecutors to consider filing an upgraded charge from manslaughter to second-degree murder, according to court records.