Driver arrested after hit-and-run on PCH kills 1 pedestrian, critically injures another

Huntington Beach police have arrested a 26-year-old Victorville woman they believe killed one pedestrian and critically injured another Saturday night in a hit-and-run collision on the Pacific Coast Highway, officials reported.

Chillandra Dalanalea Bell was driving a Nissan Altima northbound on Coast Highway at 8 p.m. when she reportedly ran a red light at Newland Street and struck a man and a woman in a crosswalk, according to a police department release issued Monday.

Witness accounts and video surveillance footage indicate that following the collision, Bell continued driving before stopping a short distance away and abandoning the vehicle along with a female passenger inside the Altima. Police reported the pair entered a white sedan waiting nearby and fled.

First responders arrived on scene and pronounced one of the pedestrians, DeAnna Stuve, a 48-year-old school teacher from Hemet, dead. Fredrick Stuve, 50, of Hemet, was found to have sustained serious injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital where he was listed Monday in critical condition, according to police.

While police could not immediately confirm the relationship of the two victims, an online search indicates the pair were a couple and that DeAnna Stuve worked as a teacher at an elementary school in Hemet Unified School District.

With the assistance of multiple witnesses, officers traced the white sedan to a residence in Huntington Beach. They conducted surveillance on the property and eventually arrested Bell as she attempted to leave the location.

Bell was arrested Monday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit and run resulting in injury, in addition to other charges. It is unclear whether drugs or alcohol may have played a role in the incident.

An online prison inmate locator maintained by the Sheriff’s Department showed Bell, who works as a security guard, was being held at the county’s Intake Release Center for women on $100,000 bail. She is scheduled to appear Tuesday in Central Jail Court.

The identity of the driver of the white getaway vehicle was still being investigated Monday by the department’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team. Anyone who may have witnessed the collision, or events leading up to it, is encouraged to contact traffic investigator Doug Demetre at (714) 536-5670 or investigator Vishal Rattanchandani at (714) 536-5663.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.