Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 SAN DIEGO - A 34-year-old man laid down in front of a car driven by a friend, and was killed as the woman drove away from his birthday party just after midnight Sunday, police said. “It's the nature of collision investigations.” 
 
 Before he was hit, Jonathan Merkley, who turned 34 on Saturday, had been drinking and celebrating at the Staybridge Suites on Mira Mesa Boulevard, officials said. According to San Diego police, Merkley friends' had been drinking alcohol at the hotel when the unidentified woman tried to get behind the wheel. Witnesses said both had been drinking alcohol with friends before the incident, near the San Diego suburb of Sorrento Valley. Merkley was trying to prevent the woman from leaving the hotel walked into the path of her BMW and laid down in front of the moving car, according to San Diego Police Sgt. Tom Sullivan. The woman did not stop, ran over the man and kept going. The victim suffered major trauma to his chest and died about 45 minutes later at a hospital, Sullivan said. Police know the identity of the BMW driver, but she had not been arrested as of late Sunday morning, according to Sullivan. “There’s a lot we still need to find out,” Underwood said. She was interviewed, and a car that “may have been involved” in the crash was impounded.
– A birthday party in California turned tragic after the guest of honor was run over and killed by his friend. Police say Jonathan Carlyle Merkley was celebrating his 34th birthday early Sunday at a hotel near San Diego when a woman decided to leave the party. Merkley wanted her to stay and reportedly walked toward her BMW and laid down in front of what the Orange County Register describes as a moving car. The woman didn’t stop, ran him over, and kept going. Police cite witnesses as saying both had been drinking, Fox 5 reports. Merkley, who suffered major chest trauma, died about 45 minutes later at a hospital. Police tracked the woman down and a car that "may have been involved" was impounded, cops tell the San Diego Union-Tribune. The woman was not arrested but police said on Tuesday that the investigation is continuing. "There's a lot we still need to find out," says San Diego Police Sgt. Tim Underwood.