A 39-year-old Antioch man was charged Thursday with second-degree murder for the death of a 74-year-old woman in a police pursuit from Seal Beach to Long Beach.
Seal Beach police stopped a 2006 Lexus just before 8 p.m. Tuesday for a traffic violation near Pacific Coast Highway and Marina Drive, police said. While the officer was conducting a records check of the driver, her male passenger switched places with her and the car sped away, police alleged.
The chase continued north on Pacific Coast Highway toward Long Beach until the Lexus crashed into multiple other vehicles at about 8:05 p.m. at Second Street in Long Beach, police said.
Chaz Lamar Long bailed out of the car and attempted to run away, but an officer used a Taser to apprehend him, police said. The woman in the car was injured and hospitalized and the baby was also taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons, police said.
Long was charged with second-degree murder, three counts of evading a peace officer causing serious bodily injury and a count of child abuse and endangerment, all felonies. According to the criminal complaint, he is accused of killing Sarah Shorteno of Toronto and injuring an infant girl and three other adults.
Shorteno, who was a passenger in one of the cars involved in the crash, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
