Deadly Hit-And-Run At Long Beach Apartment Complex Destroys Security Station, Killing Security Guard
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) - A deadly hit-and-run incident Saturday in Long Beach at the Century Villages at Cabrillo apartment complex leaves a security guard dead.
The driver of a gray SUV, going southbound in the 2000 block of San Gabriel Avenue at around 3 p.m., plowed into a the security station at the complex, destroying it, killing the security personnel and then, according to police, fleeing on foot. The impact of the crash completely destroyed the security station.
Law enforcement personnel said the guard was pronounced dead at the scene, and they have been at the site since shortly after the incident. Police are still searching for the driver of the SUV. as well as looking at security footage and speaking to witnesses.
Residents of the complex said they were completely stunned by the fatal event.
"Right before I went to the story, it was about 45 minutes to an hour, and when I returned, I can't get in, and then as I came around the backside and saw...where he was sitting all demolished, I said before I could think, 'Oh, whoever was in that didn't make it.' They could not have made it," Darrell Mitchell, a resident at the complex told CBSLA's Hermela Aregawi.
Andria Abbot Mitchell said the driver had to be going at a high rate of speed because she couldn't tell which part of the security station was what, after it was destroyed in the hit and run. Mitchell also said the security guard who lost his life in the incident was part of this community.
"Everyone here loves him. We have 80 units in this one building. He knows every single tenant," Andria Abbot Mitchell, a biulding resident said. "He's here rain or shine, talking about sports, it don't matter. He'd just wish a great day. He's going to be greatly missed."
The apartments are a sprawling complex that cater to veterans, people who were previously homeless or those who have had very serious life challenges. Residents of the complex said that it's a very close-knit community and that the guard, killed in the incident, was a part of that.
