Police this week arrested one of the two men accused of killing an innocent driver during a suspected road rage incident in East Long Beach.
Authorities say a Subaru and a Tesla were weaving in and out of traffic at high speed around 11:45 a.m. on Sept. 17 when the Tesla rear-ended a box truck on Seventh Street near Cal State Long Beach.
The truck smashed through a cinderblock wall, killing its driver, 61-year-old Jose Cesena Sr. Two other men inside were hurt, police said.
The Subaru’s driver, whom police identified as 35-year-old Luis Rodriguez, fled the scene, according to prosecutors. This week, they charged him with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, hit-and-run causing injury or death and reckless driving with injuries.
Police arrested Rodriguez on Tuesday along Seventh Street near Dawson Avenue, about four miles from the site of the crash. It wasn’t immediately clear what evidence police used to tie him to the wreck.
Rodriguez, wearing a jail-issued maroon shirt and gray pants, pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday in Long Beach Superior Court. He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
If convicted of all charges, he could face up to 16 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
There’s been an arrest warrant out for the suspected Tesla driver since February, court records show. Police couldn’t immediately confirm if he had been taken into custody.