Breaking News Emails
Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
SUBSCRIBE
/ Updated
By Phil Helsel
A man accused of beating a woman with a motorized scooter is facing a murder charge in her death.
Officers were called to the site of the attack, on a street in Long Beach, California, Monday afternoon, police said in a statement.
Rosa Elena Hernandez, 63, was killed in the attack.
“Detectives believe the suspect physically assaulted the victim and then proceeded to utilize a motorized scooter as a weapon during the assault,” police said.
A little more than four hours later, police said they arrested a person of interest, who was booked on a murder charger and is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
The suspect was not identified by police.
The attack appeared to have been random, NBC Los Angeles reported, citing police. Hernandez was walking down the street when a man began attacking her, police told the station.
NBC Los Angeles reported that the man used an electric scooter in the attack.
The Los Angeles Times reported that was a Bird scooter, and that authorities don’t believe the attacker and victim knew each other.Bird scooters are dockless e-scooters available to rent.
Police said that the suspect fled on foot after the assault, and the person who was arrested was found at a local business.
Friends and family of Hernandez laid candles Monday night at the spot where she was killed Monday night.
“She was a nice lady, always said hi to everybody,” neighbor Veronica Morales told NBC Los Angeles, adding that she was well known on the street. “Nobody deserves what that person did,” Morales said.
Long Beach is a city on the coast south of Los Angeles.