Yesterday morning at approximately 9:14am, officers from the Long Beach Police Department were dispatched to the area of Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, where a traffic collision occurred that resulted in the death of an adult female.
The preliminary investigation revealed that a tractor-trailer truck was traveling westbound on Pacific Coast Highway, when a Chevy Blazer traveling eastbound attempted to turn northbound onto Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue. The truck struck the Blazer, and the driver and front seat passenger, who were not wearing seat belts at the time of the collision, were both ejected onto the roadway. The truck then struck the ejected passenger, who was determined to be deceased at the scene. The driver and a second passenger, who was in the rear seat, sustained what appeared to be minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital.
The decedent has been identified as Sonia Esperanza Rodriguez, a 54-year-old Long Beach resident. The 48-year-old driver of the Blazer and 21-year-old passenger are both male residents of Long Beach.
The driver of the truck, a 29-year-old resident of Valencia, was questioned and released at the scene. The investigation is ongoing and charges may be pending against the drivers of both vehicles involved.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Long Beach Police Department Accident Investigations Detail Detectives Dave Lauro at (562) 570-7355. Anonymous tips may be submitted via text or web by visiting www.tipsoft.com.