Man sentenced to four years in prison for deadly crash in Long Beach

A Long Beach man was sentenced Friday to four years in state prison for a crash that killed a man in a wheelchair in an unmarked crosswalk in Long Beach.

Joseph Maez, 26, pleaded no contest Aug. 16 to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Mitchell Morales was struck while pushing a cart full of his belongings across Stearn Street at Radnor Avenue in the Los Altos neighborhood of Long Beach at 11:19 p.m. June 12, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The 59-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene despite attempted lifesaving measures by police and fire department personnel.

Long Beach police arrested Maez just over an hour after the crash, and he was released on bond the following day, according to jail records.

He was taken back into custody Friday morning to begin serving the prison term.

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