Authorities Tuesday identified a 64-year-old man who was in a wheelchair when he was fatally injured in a hit-and-run crash in Long Beach.
Charles Norman suffered traumatic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash around 12:35 a.m. on Sept. 18, at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Seventh Street, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.
The driver suspected of hitting him, 23-year-old Ethan Chung of Irvine, was arrested about five blocks away.
Witnesses told police a white BMW sedan traveling south on PCH 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.
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.
Chung 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 vehicular manslaughter. He was released the same day after posting bond, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department records.
“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 Investigation 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.