car crash

The aftermath of a vehicle vs. pedestrian incident at 57th Way and Paramount Boulevard. Photo courtesy of Patrick Conlon.

A 25-year-old man remains hospitalized in critical condition after he was struck by a motorist in North Long Beach over the weekend.

The incident happened at about 1:00AM Sunday, October 29 on the 5600 block of Paramount Boulevard, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said in an email today.

Long Beach paramedics transported the victim, who was found in the street with serious injuries, to a local hospital in critical condition, she said.

A preliminary investigation found that a 22-year-old Bellflower woman was driving a Ford Focus north on Paramount Boulevard in the No. 2 lane when she struck the pedestrian. The crash resulted in the temporary closure of Paramount from 56th Way to South Street.

The woman remained at the scene and cooperated with police.

Officials said it was unclear if the pedestrian was in a crosswalk at the time of the crash.

Patrick Conlon, owner of the nearby Muldoon’s Saloon and a witness to the aftermath of the crash, said he and a friend rushed over to the vehicle only to find a bloody scene.

“It looked surreal and it didn’t even look like those were a person’s legs,” Conlon said in a Facebook post. “The guy’s face was in the windshield and his legs were stretched out behind his back where they were almost touching the roof of the car. The driver gets out and she is covered in blood and is absolutely hysterical.”

Conlon said there is no crosswalk 300 yards from the scene of the crash on Paramount in either direction.

He added that the area sees a lot of jaywalkers and he has been in communication with traffic engineers from the city to discuss potentially adding a stop sign, crosswalk or reducing the posted speed limit.

In an email Conlon shared with the Post, a city traffic engineer noted that in the last five years there were 18 reported crashes mid-block along Paramount between South and Artesia, with four incidents caused by to unsafe speed.

At 56th Way and Paramount Boulevard, there were seven reported collisions and one pedestrian-related crash in the last five years.

“We don’t recommend putting in a crosswalk across Paramount with 25,000 [cars a day],” Rajeev Seetharam, senior traffic engineer, emailed Conlon in July. “Also, there are no pedestrian generating land uses on the east side of Paramount for us to justify a crosswalk.”

Seetharam recommended seeking the LBPD’s help for aggressive enforcement.

Despite this information, Conlon says he will continue to speak with the traffic engineer.

“I know there are traffic incidents that happen on this street that go unreported very often so hopefully this last tragedy might be enough to foster change in how traffic flows on North Paramount Blvd between South and Candlewood street,” Conlon said.

LBPD Collision Investigation Detective Dave Lauro is asking for anyone who may have witnessed the collision to call (562) 570-7355. Anonymous tips may be submitted through “LA Crime Stoppers” by calling 1 (800) 222-TIPS (8477).

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Stephanie Rivera is the community engagement editor. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @StephRivera88.