LOS ANGELES, CA – The death of a 51-year-old bicyclist who was struck and killed in Long Beach last month is now being investigated as a homicide after detectives determined the driver intentionally hit him, police said.
The Long Beach Police Department announced the development Friday, identifying the victim as Gerado Mejia, 51, whom authorities described as a person experiencing homelessness.
Police said detectives concluded that the driver deliberately struck Mejia near Cowles Street and Santa Fe Avenue in the early morning hours of July 6. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner separately determined Mejia’s manner of death was homicide.
The case had initially been investigated as a fatal hit-and-run collision.
According to the original police account, officers were dispatched at approximately 2:38 a.m. to the intersection after receiving a report of a collision involving a vehicle and a bicyclist.
Officers arrived and found Mejia in the roadway. Long Beach Fire Department personnel attempted to provide medical aid, but he died at the scene.
Investigators initially believed Mejia had been riding his bicycle westbound on Cowles Street when a vehicle traveling southbound on Santa Fe Avenue turned east onto Cowles and struck him.
The driver left the scene without stopping, police said.
At the time, investigators had not publicly said the collision was intentional. That changed following additional investigative work, with LBPD stating in its Aug. 28 update that detectives determined the vehicle had been used to deliberately strike Mejia.
Information reviewed by Street People shows police have since identified the suspected driver as Kenneth Richard Sok, 39, of Long Beach.
Authorities have not disclosed what evidence led detectives to conclude that Mejia was intentionally targeted, nor have they publicly described a possible motive or explained whether Mejia and Sok knew each other before the incident.
Police have also not released details about what happened immediately before the collision.
The identification of Sok brought an unusual complication to the investigation.
According to LBPD, Sok was involved in a fatal officer-involved shooting involving another law enforcement agency in another jurisdiction on July 10, four days after Mejia was killed.
Long Beach police did not identify that outside agency in their update and did not provide additional circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Because Sok was killed in that separate encounter, the homicide investigation into Mejia’s death now differs from a conventional criminal prosecution in which a living suspect could potentially be arrested and charged.
Police have not said whether investigators believe anyone else was involved in Mejia’s killing.
The department’s updated classification also changes the nature of the July 6 case from what initially appeared to be a deadly traffic collision into an intentional act of violence.
A homicide determination by the Medical Examiner describes the manner in which a death occurred and does not, by itself, establish criminal liability. In this case, however, LBPD separately stated that its own detectives determined the driver intentionally struck Mejia.
The distinction is significant because investigators initially had only the roadway sequence available publicly: a bicyclist traveling westbound, a vehicle turning onto the same street and a driver who fled.
The department has not disclosed what investigators uncovered in the weeks afterward that changed that assessment.
LBPD’s public statement also does not identify the type of vehicle involved, describe whether it was recovered, or say whether surveillance footage, witness accounts or other evidence contributed to identifying Sok.
Those details remain part of the ongoing investigation.
The case is being handled by the department’s Collision Investigation Detail, which investigates serious and fatal traffic incidents. The unit can be reached at 562-570-7355, according to the department’s official contact directory.
Police continue to ask anyone who witnessed the incident or has information about the circumstances surrounding Mejia’s death to contact investigators.
Anonymous information can also be provided through L.A. Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
For now, several central questions remain unanswered publicly, including why Mejia was allegedly targeted, what evidence established intent and what connection, if any, existed between him and the suspected driver.
The investigation remains ongoing.
