Updated: Driver Dies After Striking Horse

A man was killed early Tuesday morning after his vehicle struck a horse in Rolling Hills Estates.

Rancho Palos Verdes resident Ryan Y. Koyama, 69, died at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, according to Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter.

According to the preliminary investigation, Koyama, an optometrist, was driving a 2003 Mercedes-Benz 500 SL south on Crenshaw Boulevard between Rolling Hills Road and Palos Verdes Drive North when it struck the horse, which had somehow gotten loose from a nearby stable and was running in traffic lanes, the California Highway Patrol said.

The horse flew over the car on impact, and the Mercedes swerved, colliding with the wooden three-rail fence along the road and the chain-link fence surrounding the former landfill site, according to the CHP incident report.

The crash happened shortly after 2 a.m., said Ed Pickett, supervising dispatcher from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. There are no street lights in the immediate vicinity of the collision.

The horse, which suffered multiple broken bones in the collision, was euthanized at the scene by a local veterinarian before CHP officers arrived.

The horse had escaped from Seahorse Riding Club up the street, apparently by jumping the fences, according to initial reports. Seahorse trainer Devon Gibson told the Daily Breeze that the facility's gates were all locked.

"It's horrific," Gibson told Breeze reporter Sandy Mazza. "A human lost its life and a horse was smashed in two. It's a horrific loss of life."

The CHP will conduct the investigation because Crenshaw Boulevard falls under its jurisdiction.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available. Follow Palos Verdes Patch on Facebook and Twitter for instant updates.

—City News Service contributed to this report.