Jonathan Carlyle Merkley, of Garden Grove, was celebrating his 34th birthday night at the Staybridge Suites hotel, in the 6600 block of Mira Mesa Boulevard, at about 12:30 a.m.
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– A man who was trying to prevent a woman from leaving his birthday party in Sorrento Valley early Sunday got down on the ground in front of her vehicle and was fatally run over. When one of his friends made a decision to leave just after midnight, he tried to stop her.
Officials say Merkley walked in front of her vehicle and laid down in front of the moving auto to get her to stop. That’s when the woman trying to leave ran over him.
The female driver ran her friend over and kept on driving without rendering aid to the badly injured man, KSWB reported. It’s not clear whether she knew she hit Merkley.
Merkley suffered major trauma to his chest.
Witnesses said both had been drinking alcohol before the incident.
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Authorities said the woman had been identified, but was not in custody.
