Motorcyclist reportedly shot on 405 Freeway in Torrance; investigation snarls traffic
The scene is at the Torrance Police Department in Torrance. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
LOS ANGELES – A man who was riding a motorcycle at a high rate of speed was struck by a passing car while riding southbound on the 405 Freeway in Torrance on Friday afternoon, police said.
The man was struck by the fleeing vehicle around 2:20 p.m. in the southbound lane of the 400 block of North Spring Street in the city of about 6,000 inhabitants.
As he lay bleeding in the street, the man’s girlfriend called police and paramedics. He was revived, and was taken to a local hospital.
COPS detectives arrived at the scene and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal collision, said Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore.
An accident reconstruction team and police detectives will be in the area on Saturday to gather any evidence that might help clear the case, Moore said.
The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, has been arrested, and is being held at the Torrance Police Department jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter causing death, fleeing police, driving under the influence and possession of drug paraphernalia, Moore said.
The investigation into that collision is ongoing, and there were no other injuries to bystanders, Moore said.
On Twitter, the Police Department posted a video on the accident:
The man was pronounced dead at 5:37 p.m. at Torrance Health Medical Center.
The 405 Freeway is a busy toll road linking the city of Los Angeles with Long Beach, and the San Bernardino and San Diego county lines, which connects the Santa Claran Mountains to the San Fernando Valley.
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In 2009, police said a motorcyclist was shot in the head in the city of about 6,600 people, who called police after a car fleeing from an accident in the northbound lanes of the highway stopped at a red stop sign at a traffic light near the 405