Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who severely injured a 67-year-old man crossing a Long Beach street last month.
The crash happened at about 1:05 a.m. on Feb. 28 at the intersection of Anaheim Street and Redondo Avenue, according to Long Beach police.
No arrests have been made, but a search warrant to seize and search the involved vehicle lays out how the crash happened and how police tracked down the van.
Investigators determined, based on video of the crash and two witness accounts, that the victim was walking northbound in a marked crosswalk when the light cycled from green to red. He continued walking in the crosswalk and was struck by a van heading westbound on Anaheim Street.
The impact sent him flying until he landed roughly 40 feet west of the crosswalk, according to the search warrant.
The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for a fractured right leg, severe liver laceration and internal bleeding, which required emergency surgery, police said.
Through surveillance camera footage, detectives tracked the van as it kept heading westbound on Anaheim Street. It appeared to be an older model red Toyota Previa, the detective wrote in the search warrant.
A surveillance camera also spotted a vehicle matching that description heading westbound on Seventh Street near Margo Avenue roughly five minutes before the crash.
That footage gave police a clear view of the license plate, which they tracked to an address on Walnut Avenue near East 17th Street.
At 10:22 on Feb. 28, roughly nine hours after the crash, detectives went to that home and found a red 1997 Toyota Previa parked between the home and the detached garage, according to the search warrant.
One of the officers spotted a damaged windshield on the driver’s side, which was “consistent with striking a pedestrian,” the detective wrote.
Police have not said if they believe the registered owner of the car was the driver, and they declined to explain why they have not made an arrest. The investigation is ongoing, a spokesperson said.