Suspect Arrested In Hit-And-Run That Left 6 Injured When Driver Plowed Through Crowd At Halloween Party
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — Authorities arrested a suspect in connection to a hit-and-run at a Halloween party that sent six victims to the hospital in Long Beach early Sunday morning and left neighbors with property damage.
"I heard the crash loud. So, I ran to the front and everything is completely smashed and I just saw people all over my yard," witness Sophie Keo said.
Keo's security cameras turned on seconds later and recorded the injured victims on her lawn.
"Everybody just scream in pain and all those things," she said. "I think some of them with broken bones. I think one leg sticking bone out."
The incident unfolded around 2:45 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Werner Street and Orange Avenue where a group of people standing outside of a home at the tail-end of a Halloween party were struck. There, authorities say the driver of a blue sedan plowed into the crowd.
The Long Beach Fire Department took five adults and a teenager to the hospital, some with broken bones. All of the victims are expected to recover.
A preliminary investigation, according to authorities, indicates that the situation started as a "domestic violence incident between a male adult and a female adult." The female was one of the victims struck by the suspect's vehicle.
Myra Preciado said it was her son's party, just a fun night for young people enjoying Halloween, but she said an uninvited guest picked a fight outside with partygoers. Then, he got into his car and made things worse.
"Someone was fighting. So, I guess when they came out to see, they were going that way and that's when the people got hit," Preciado said.
Detectives announced the arrest of 27-year-old Richard Dalton Irigoyen of Long Beach Sunday evening in the City of Compton, stating that the suspect was first taken to the hospital for injuries unrelated to his arrest. Authorities also impounded the vehicle used in the hit-and-run.
Witnesses said Dalton first came onto the sidewalk, but that when he hit the fence and the first group of people, he kept going and didn't stop. After hitting Keo's fence, the 27-year-old kept driving down the sidewalk, hitting two parked cars and another fence three houses down, as well as people in the car's line of direction.
"My neices and nephews got hurt. They got real hurt, but they're okay," Preciado said.
Dalton has been booked into the Long Beach City Jail and charged with six counts of both attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, as well as one count of felony domestic violence. His bail was set at $6 million.