Nobu chef killed as teen's SUV hits parked car on PCH
Ryo Uchimiya, 51, was napping in his parked car just after sunrise when a 16-year-old's Land Rover drifted off PCH and rear-ended him near Nobu. City officials have for years been trying to get Nobu employee parking off of the busy highway.
By Hans Laetz
Homicide detectives will present the death of a man on Pacific Coast Highway to the L.A. County prosecutor, to see what type of charges might be filed against the 16-year-old boy who killed him as he slept in his car near Nobu restaurant Saturday.
Ryo Uchimiya, 51, was a chef at the Malibu Nobu and was napping in his parked car when it was rear-ended at 6:53 a.m. Saturday.
Video showed the impact to be so strong that Uchimaya's car hit a parked car in front of it, which hit a fourth car, which in turn was launched violently into the air and sideways by the force.
City officials have been complaining for years about Nobu employees parking on PCH - which is against the restaurant's Coastal Use Permit. In 2019, the city of Malibu issued a cease and desist letter against Nobu for putting its guest and employee parking on the highway.
The boy was not arrested and not identified publicly.
The public may not learn his identity unless a civil lawsuit names him as a defendant, which would not likely happen for several months. Under most circumstances, a child accused of a crime in California is not publicly identified.
The boy had been driving an eastbound grey Land Rover SUV when it drifted from the roadway lanes and into a parked car about two blocks east of the restaurant.
Uchimiya had been napping in his car and was waiting for his call time, according to employees quoted by witnesses.
The vehicle was taken into evidence by a tow truck, and it can be assumed that it had onboard computer records that can be recovered by detectives.
The video showed no sharp shadows, indicating that the sun was not shining brightly on the road at the time of the crash: two minutes after the local 6:51 a.m. sunrise. But the video shows soft shadows, indicating that bright sun was not shining up the coast highway at the time of impact.
During the day, PCH was briefly closed for the coroner to uncover Uchimiya's remains and for tow truck drivers to operate. For most of the day, eastbound traffic was allowed to use the center turn lane, and westbound traffic was not seriously affected.
The driver was reported as "cooperating" with sheriff's detectives, and he was not arrested. As a child, his name may not be released until a lawsuit is filed by the victim's survivors.
The Saturday crash happened exactly one mile west of the place where four young women were killed by Fraser Michael Bohm when his car drifted off the highway, as that young driver was speeding west on PCH at 104 miles an hour.
Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir, and Deslyn Williams were killed October 17, 2023, along Pacific Coast Highway.
Although he has not been convicted of any crime yet, his attorney has admitted that Bohm was driving the car that hit the women as they were standing between cars on the PCH parking lane.
Bohm is free on bail, confined to his house, awaiting his trial for four counts of murder on Dec. 1.