A woman out celebrating her 21st birthday with friends was killed in a hit-and-run crash on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Gordon Tokumatsu reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, 2015.
A Van Nuys woman was killed Tuesday morning in Malibu when a hit-and-run driver crashed into her as she was stretching near the car she had been traveling in on Pacific Coast Highway, officials said.
It was her 21st birthday, she was out with three friends possibly celebrating the milestone, said Det. David Huelsen, from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Malibu/Lost Hills Station.
They were traveling north on the busy coastal highway at about 5:30 a.m. when the vehicle she was in pulled over south of Ramirez Canyon Road. The woman got out to stretch, according to investigators.
"They might not be real familiar with the area," Huelsen said. "They don't realize what kind of traffic, what kind of speeds maybe were on the roadway here.
While she was stretching, a driver fatally struck her before fleeing the area. She died at the scene. The victim’s name had not been released as of Tuesday evening.
A 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with the hit-and-run an hour later after turning himself in to deputies who were stationed about 10 miles from the crash site in Agoura Hills.
If the suspect, identified as Pablo Carranza of Pacoima, had stopped and rendered aid the charges against him would likely be entirely different, police said.
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Carranza was being booked for felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.
"He knew the gig was over," said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Philip Brooks.
The vehicle sustained major damage, including a cracked windshield, he added.
Residents, although saddened by the incident, were not surprised.
"The PCH is dangerous," Bonnie Saito said. "Residents have been meeting with the city about safety."
Two of the northbound lanes were closed on PCH after the collision. They were reopened in the afternoon, several hours later.
