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Artesia Blvd. at Cherry Ave. At 6 p.m., during a seven-hour-long DUI checkpoint and at an egress-ingress point, one lonely driver was arrested for DUI, five drivers were cited for operating a vehicle unlicensed, others left, citation-free.

Pacific Coast Hwy. at Cedar Ave. At 8:45 p.m., after a woman walking southbound in a marked crosswalk struck by an eastbound 2013 Ford Fusion later died from her injuries at a hospital. The driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with officers.

Spring St. near Palo Verde Ave. At 9 p.m., “two young punks on a red electric bike stabbed our inflatable Santa and appear to be going through the plaza neighborhood vandalizing inflatable Christmas decorations.” A deflated Santa did not press charges, but the vandalism continued at similar Santa sites.

Wardlow Rd. near Lemon Ave. In poor judgement versus a possibly dangerous solution, at 6:15 p.m., a dozen teens on e-bikes wearing helmets fled from a volley of gunshots, stopping only to check out if any of them were hit. They weren’t. Others noted a similar gaggle had just attacked cars or harassed motorists at or near Atlantic Avenue and fled on e-bikes. Naw, couldn’t be.

Long Beach Blvd. at Willow St. At 7:56 p.m., a southbound Metro train hit a private car; doing what trains always do to private cars. The trapped car passenger was freed and hospital-bound at 8:08 p.m.

Studebaker Rd. and the westbound 22 Fwy./Seventh St. junction. At 12:55 p.m., as Garden Grove and other police agencies pursued a reportedly stolen Kia from Harbor Boulevard near the 22 Freeway, the 90 mph pursuit ended when the Kia driver lost control and collided with two other vehicles. A witness said, her partner was in the third car behind the two front cars. “When the light turned green they went and got hit by stolen car.” In a wise case of controlled stop paralysis, she didn’t proceed “because there were too many sirens and didn’t know where they were coming from.” The Kia driver was taken to a hospital for evaluation after he had a “complaint of pain,” a relatable consequence.

Long Beach Blvd. and Wardlow Rd. At 8:20 p.m., a southbound 2021 Jeep Wrangler was struck by a 2007 Saturn Aura making a lane change. The Wrangler driver was uninjured and remained at the scene, cooperating with the investigation. A 16-year-old female passenger and a 17-year-old male driver of Saturn were transported to a hospital in critical condition; the next day, the passenger died.

Willow St. and Maine Ave. At 10:36 p.m., a westbound 2023 Toyota RAV4 struck a pedestrian crossing in the intersection. The male victim died at a hospital. Yet to be determined if the pedestrian was crossing within the unmarked crosswalk of the intersection. The driver remained on scene and cooperated with the investigation.

International Gateway Bridge to the 710. At 8 a.m., a jackknifed truck and a car combined for a complete bridge closure for several hours. Jackknife shortage not expected; Christmas day gift-giving impacted not.

International Gateway Bridge to the 710. An 11 p.m. organized freeway race began on the 110 Freeway, then migrated to the Terminal Island area. According to the California Highway Patrol, dispatchers received multiple calls about a large group of high speed racing vehicles on the freeway, CHP officers made more than 21 arrests and impounded dozens of vehicles on the bridge where the race came to an abrupt end. Little indication of municipal police involvement or whether the city will take action against the organizers per city council action to prosecute organizers of street race activity, likely captured by social media, presumably scoured by the authorities. Then there are the phones capturing the action remaining in the captured cars that can possibly incriminate the genius racing organizers, alleged, natch.

6600 block of Atlantic Ave. At 1:23 a.m., a man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the lower body arrived at a hospital. Police also showed up. The victim said, while outside, he heard noises and, in a case of delayed awareness, observed his own injury. As he self-transported to the hospital, officers canvassed the area but were unable to locate a crime scene.

Anaheim St. and Alamitos Ave. At 6 p.m., police from both L.A. and Long Beach surrounded an elementary school where an armed robbery suspect was cleverly hiding in a trash can. After his arrest, came the search for the gun he was supposedly carrying, which had avoided its own arrest.

1700 Sherman Pl. At 12:33 a.m., a man managed to shoot himself with a non-life-threatening injury to the lower body as a unique way of welcoming the new year, perhaps confusing gunplay with the more traditional, but equally illegal, yet less damaging, fireworks.

Second St. and Corona Ave. After a 9 a.m. armed carjacking of an elderly Indiana couple, the suspect rammed several vehicles in a successful get-a-way, despite a bystander’s attempts to block the carjacker and subsequent several mile pursuit.