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Fair Teenager struck by alleged drunk driver
LBHS student is seriously injured after being dragged underneath vehicle
A Long Beach man was arrested on Monday night and charged with driving while intoxicated after he allegedly struck a 15-year-old girl, pinned her underneath his Jeep and dragged her for almost an entire block before leaving the scene.
Long Beach police said the incident occurred between 8:30 and 9 p.m., when 49-year-old German Gutierrez, driving east on Beech Street, ignored a stop sign and struck Long Beach High School junior Sarah Coletti. The teen was reportedly walking with a bicycle with a group of friends, and crossed the street at the intersection of East Beech Street and Edwards Boulevard.
Sgt. Eric Cregeen, a Police Department spokesman, said that Coletti and her bike became wedged underneath Gutierrez’s vehicle when it struck her. She suffered second- and third-degree burns and abrasions on her legs and arms when she was dragged several hundred feet between Edwards and Riverside boulevards.
Gutierrez continued east on Beech after Coletti emerged from underneath his vehicle, driving erratically and striking several parked vehicles before leaving the scene, according to Cregeen. “He … drags her, and I don’t know if she’s still with him when he hits the next car,” Cregeen said. “A second call was received from a witness who said that the vehicle struck a parked vehicle on Long Beach Boulevard, and had fled eastbound on East Beech.”
Cregeen said that police located Gutierrez’s vehicle on the 500 block of East Beech, and arrested him just before 11 p.m.
Coletti was taken to Nassau University Medical Center, according to Cregeen, and admitted to the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit. NUMC spokeswoman Shelley Lotenberg said on Tuesday that Coletti was in critical but stable condition.
Gutierrez was charged with second-degree vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident, leaving the scene of an accident with serious injury, and leaving the scene of an accident with serious property damage. He was arraigned on Tuesday at Long Beach City Court. Cregeen said it was not clear where he had been drinking.
