Authorities today identified a man who died in a crash in Long Beach that left a Norwalk man behind bars on suspicion of driving drunk and causing the four-vehicle collision.
The crash occurred about 5 p.m. Tuesday on Pacific Coast Highway south of Loynes Drive, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
Joe Delucas, 30, of Los Angeles died at the scene, according to the coroner’s office and Long Beach police.
Six other people were transported to hospitals for treatment of injuries of unspecified severity, according to police.
Delucas was a passenger in a car driven by Mario Medrano, 31, of Norwalk, who was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence, and murder. Medrano was being held on $2 million bail, police said.
Medrano was driving a 2015 Nissan Altima south on PCH “at a high rate of speed” when he “swerved into oncoming traffic, striking a 1994 Nissan truck driven by a 63-year-old resident of Long Beach,” according to a police statement.
“The Nissan Altima continued southbound in the northbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway, striking a 2010 Toyota Prius, which was traveling northbound Pacific Coast Highway, driven by a 58-year-old resident of Long Beach,” police said. “This impact caused the Prius to be pushed into the southbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway and (it) was then struck by a 2008 Honda Pilot traveling southbound Pacific Coast Highway.”
