LONG BEACH – A Long Beach resident was sentenced Friday to 16 years in state prison in connection with his no contest plea to charges stemming from a crash that killed a man who was pushing a disabled vehicle on a Long Beach street and injured a woman who was steering the vehicle.
Patrick Mount, now 61, pleaded no contest Oct. 20 to one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury.
The crash occurred at about 3:45 a.m. July 7, 2021, on Artesia Boulevard at Butler Avenue near the Long Beach (710) Freeway overpass, according to Brandon Fahey, a spokesman with the Long Beach Police Department.
Police identified the victim as Darnell Bluitt, 54, of Compton.
A preliminary investigation revealed that two men were pushing a disabled 1993 Acura sedan westbound on Artesia Boulevard with the help of a 43- year-old Compton woman steering the vehicle, police said.
A 2010 GMC truck struck them from behind, fatally injuring one of the men and injuring the woman who was steering. The truck’s driver fled in the vehicle to a nearby neighborhood, authorities said.
Officers subsequently located the truck and arrested Mount. He has remained behind bars since his arrest the day of the crash, jail records show.
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