A Range Rover SUV plowed into a parked sedan on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, killing Ryo Uchimiya, a 51-year-old chef who was a longtime sushi chef at Nobu Malibu.
Uchimiya was asleep in his parked car, waiting for his shift to begin, when the SUV struck. He had parked down the street from the restaurant and had arrived early for work, as he often did. The Range Rover hit his vehicle and two others.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the crash happened just before 7 a.m. The Range Rover hit Uchimiya’s car at about 6:50 a.m.
Authorities identified the driver as a 16-year-old boy. He survived, remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. The driver did not appear to be under the influence, officials said. No other injuries were reported.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. John Addington said it appeared the driver had been speeding.
Prosecutors had brought no charges as of Monday, Oct. 5, and the sheriff’s department was still investigating. The Los Angeles medical examiner’s office identified Uchimiya and ruled his death an accident caused by multiple blunt force injuries.
Video Shows SUV Drifting
Surveillance video from a surf shop across the street appeared to show the Range Rover drifting from the right lane toward the shoulder moments before impact. A painted stripe separates the traffic lane from the shoulder, and the SUV went over that fog line and hit the chef’s car.
The footage came from Jefferson Wagner, a surf shop owner and former Malibu mayor whose storefront sits across the highway from the crash site. A witness said the teenage driver appeared stunned in the aftermath of the crash.
“He was asleep,” Wagner said. “He gets here early and takes a snooze and then goes to work on time.”
A memorial has sprung up near the spot where Uchimiya died, and origami cranes now hang there. Wagner visited it.
Nobu employed Uchimiya for 25 years, and colleagues credited him with helping build up the Malibu restaurant’s operation. Nobu Malibu is a high-end Japanese restaurant known for its celebrity clientele.
The restaurant’s manager said the “family of staffers” there were doing whatever they could to support Uchimiya’s relatives. “Obviously, it’s been a very, very difficult day for so many people,” the manager said, according to KTLA.
A Notorious Stretch of Road
The 21-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu ranks among the state’s deadliest and most notorious roads. Over the past decade, that stretch has averaged roughly four crash-related fatalities a year. Over the years he has leased his storefront along the route, Wagner has counted 10 deaths, he said.
A BMW traveling an estimated 104 mph in a 45-mph zone struck three parked cars in an October 2023 crash, authorities say, and those cars then hit and fatally injured four Alpha Phi sorority sisters from Pepperdine University. The man behind the wheel was 22 years old and from Malibu.
Multiple counts of murder and vehicular manslaughter now confront that driver, Fraser Bohm. Officials responded to the case with plans for tougher safety measures, among them cameras and steeper fines for speeding.
Fires in January 2025 destroyed homes and businesses in the area, scattering construction zones and reduced speed limits across the route. Conditions along the corridor have grown more complicated since then.
Speed Cameras Set to Start
Malibu, after delays, is set to begin a warning phase for new speed cameras along the highway. City officials hope the program will rein in the kind of speeds investigators are now examining.
Four cameras logged about 100,000 speeding violations in nine days during preliminary testing alone, from Sept. 16 to 24, the city said.