Surveillance cameras outside of a Malibu home captured video of a driver in a BMW speeding on Pacific Coast Highway just seconds before he crashed into four Pepperdine University students, killing them.
The crash happened around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 21600 block of PCH, near La Costa Beach and east of the Malibu Pier, authorities said.
“I feel terrible for them,” Rob Daniels, the homeowner, told KTLA’s Omar Lewis.
Daniels got emotional thinking about the four young women, all of whom were seniors at Pepperdine’s Seaver College of Liberal Arts, who lost their lives. He said the stretch of PCH just outside his door is dangerous.
“This is not the first time,” he said. “We had a piano teacher come when my kid was taking piano lessons. Luckily, she didn’t get out of her car. She was rear ended.”
Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the driver, identified as Fraser Michael Bohm, was speeding in his dark-colored BMW when he lost control, sideswiped several parked vehicles and crashed into the young women who were walking in the area.
Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams were pronounced dead at the scene. Two other victims were taken to a nearby hospital.
Bohm, 22, is facing potential manslaughter charges, authorities said. He was released from custody Wednesday morning pending further investigation.
Chris Hanson lives a few houses down from where the crash happened and knows Bohm.
“Last night was an accident. I don’t think it had anything to do with street racing. Obviously, he is at fault from what I understand, but he is a good kid and very well-respected in this community,” he told KTLA.
Former Malibu Mayor Jefferson Wagner said that something needs to be done to make this particular stretch of PCH safer so a tragedy like this doesn’t happen again.
“When we became a city, we lost the California Highway Patrol here,” he said. “We used to have a Highway Patrol office here on Malibu Road. It might be nice to see the CHP having more visits out here. That’s all we can do, is try and improve and never let this happen again.”
