Man arrested for hit-and-run crash that killed man in wheelchair
Ethan Chung, 23, allegedly hit a wheelchair-bound man Friday morning and then fled the scene, according to authorities.
Police arrested a 23-year-old Irvine man following a hit-and-run crash that killed a man in a wheelchair early Friday.
Long Beach police say Ethan Chung was driving a white 2021 BMW southbound on Pacific Coast Highway around 12:35 a.m. when he struck a wheelchair-bound pedestrian while he was in the crosswalk at East Seventh Street.
Chung stopped his car, then drove away without giving aid to the victim, police said.
When LBPD officers arrived at the scene they gave the pedestrian medical aid, according to police. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics then determined that the man had died from his injuries, authorities said.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner is working to identify the victim, police added.
After witnesses described the BMW, officers soon located it and Chung a couple miles away, at the intersection of Second Street and Pacific Coast Highway, according to the LBPD.
Police arrested Chung and booked him into the Long Beach City Jail on $50,000 bail for felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter, authorities said.
Police said that while the cause of the crash is still under investigation, they do not believe speed, distracted driving or impaired driving were factors.
Authorities are asking anyone who may have seen the crash to contact Detective Ashley Van Holland of the Long Beach Police Department's Collision Investigation Detail at 562-570-7355.
This is the 40th traffic fatality reported by the LBPD in 2026. Last year, the department reported 56 traffic-related fatalities from 53 crashes, making it the deadliest year on the road since at least 1990, when the city reported 51 deaths, according to LBPD data from a public records request by the Watchdog.
The LBPD reported 42 traffic fatalities by this time last year.
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