3 Pedestrians Run Over by Several Cars Remain in Critical Condition

Three pedestrians walking arm-and-arm were struck by a car at a busy Huntington Beach intersection Wednesday night, then run over by three or four other passing cars, police said Thursday.

All three men remained in critical condition Thursday.

“I was out there; they are very fortunate to be alive,” Huntington Beach Police Lt. Charles Poe said. “They got run over by at least three or four cars.”

“The first (cars) just knocked them down and the rest . . . just ran over them while they were on the ground.”

There is no crosswalk or traffic light at the intersection, Poe said, adding, “It was not a safe place for them to cross.” The officer said it was difficult to determine exactly what had happened when he arrived at the scene of the accident, which occurred shortly before 10 p.m.

“The legs on some of them were twisted up real bad,” Poe said. “On one, the skin was ripped off his rib cage, and he had tire marks all over. One of them had a lot of blood coming out of a head wound.”

The victims were identified as Hermelo Bello Medieta, 24, and Ruben Meneses Pluma, 24, both of Huntington Beach, and Jose Luis Bello, whose age and place of residence were unknown.

The men were crossing the street at Beach Boulevard and Blaylock Place about 9:50 p.m., when a vehicle traveling southbound on Beach “struck at least one of the pedestrians and they all fell to the ground,” Huntington Beach Police Officer Robert Barr said.

The driver pulled over and tried to assist the victims, but another four cars drove over the pedestrians, Barr said.

Only one of the other four drivers stopped to help the victims, Barr said.