A man was struck and killed on the Anaheim Street bridge over the Los Angeles River early Thursday morning after the driver who hit him fled the scene, Long Beach police say. The crash happened around 7:11 a.m. on westbound Anaheim Street just east of the 710 Freeway, and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. His name and age have not been released.
Long Beach police spokesperson Jordan McGinley said an unknown vehicle struck the man in the roadway and then fled, according to Long Beach Post, which first reported the crash. Investigators shut down the westbound lanes on the bridge while they worked the scene, and a cleanup crew was seen working near the base of the bridge afterward. That location sits just a few hundred feet from Long Beach's Multi-Service Center, the main intake facility for the area's unhoused residents.
A Corridor Already Flagged as Dangerous
Anaheim Street is not new to this kind of tragedy. Long Beach municipal traffic planning data designates the roadway as part of the city's High Injury Network, and one segment between Hayes Avenue and Ximeno Avenue alone recorded 300 pedestrian and bicyclist crashes and 24 severe injuries or deaths during its study period, according to DK Law. Citywide, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists make up just 14% of total traffic collisions but account for 65% of all severe injuries and fatalities, the same data shows.
This is also not the first fatal hit-and-run on this stretch of road this year. In February, a driver struck 57-year-old pedestrian Ronald Sera as he crossed Anaheim Street at Redondo Avenue and fled westbound, and Sera later died from his injuries in April, according to the Long Beach Watchdog. Thursday's death also follows other recent fatalities Hoodline has covered nearby, including a fatal left turn near Alamitos in August.
A Grim Milestone in a Record Year
Thursday's crash marked Long Beach's 36th fatal crash of 2026. That pace follows a decade-high toll: the city logged 53 fatal crashes in 2025, its highest total in more than a decade. That figure outpaced the city's 29 homicides that year, with 32 of the 53 deaths involving pedestrians, cyclists, or e-scooter riders, according to LAist.
The numbers stand in stark contrast to the goals the city set for itself. Long Beach adopted its Safe Streets Action Plan in July 2020 under a Vision Zero framework aiming to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2026 — the very year now closing out with a rising body count instead.
City Response Underway, But Slow to Arrive
City officials have moved on several fronts to address the crisis, though most of the planned fixes remain months away. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson proposed creating a dedicated Traffic Safety Division within Public Works under the fiscal year 2027 budget in August, allocating 12 positions to speed up road engineering and traffic-calming work along High Injury Network corridors, per the City of Long Beach. The city was also selected as one of six California cities authorized under Assembly Bill 645 to pilot automated speed enforcement cameras, with 18 planned camera locations citywide and a warning period before fines begin.
Public Works has scheduled a community meeting for September 29 on the Anaheim Street Corridor Improvement Project, a four-mile overhaul from the Los Angeles River to Pacific Coast Highway that will add 13 new crosswalks, upgrade 59 existing ones, and modernize signals at 20 intersections. Construction on that project is not slated to begin until early 2027.
Potential Charges for the Driver
Under California Vehicle Code Section 20001, leaving the scene of a crash that results in death or permanent, serious injury is punishable by up to four years in state prison and fines up to $10,000, according to FindLaw. The statute requires an immediate stop after a crash resulting in death or permanent, serious injury. No arrest has been announced in Thursday's case, and the driver and vehicle remain unidentified as police continue investigating.
