HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—A Huntington Beach local was found and captured Friday, April 15 after being suspected of hitting an elderly man with his car April 14.
Blake Patraw, 23, was arrested Friday on suspicion of fleeing the deadly collision just before 5 p.m on Thursday, at Yorktown Avenue just east of Newland Street, where witnesses said they saw a grey vehicle hit a pedestrian, who was outside the crosswalk crossing north on Yorktown, according to Jennifer Carey of the Huntington Beach Police Department.
The victim was John Carroll Stout, 81, from Huntington Beach, who eventually succumbed to his injuries after being taken to a local hospital.
Witnesses of the crime saw the vehicle, believed to be a 2016–2018 Toyota Prius, and noted it was traveling in the far left line eastbound on Yorktown Avenue, where it hit a man crossing the intersection after passing through Newland street.
When police asked for help on social media Thursday evening, they received numerous tips, leading them to Patraw.
A man claiming to have been the first witness to the scene commented on Huntington Beach Police’s Facebook page saying that the suspect’s car at first slowed down a few hundred yards away, but then took off before anyone realized they were fleeing.
Another Facebook commenter said that a gray Prius came to her husband’s shop the following morning, wanting a quick window fix. The husband was able to take pictures of his license plate, though the suspect soon got anxious and “peeled out.” It was unclear if these were tips police used to catch Patraw.
