TREND: Disabled homeless man latest victim in rising toll.
VAN NUYS - A disabled homeless man, who police said was killed Tuesday night by a hit-and-run driver, became part of a deadly trend of pedestrian casualties in the San Fernando Valley.
This was the 10th pedestrian fatality in the Valley so far this year - an increase of more than 230 percent from the same period two years ago, said Detective Bill Bustos of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic division.
“We’ve had an increase in pedestrian fatalities,” said Bustos. “Drivers are not yielding to pedestrians, and pedestrians are not crossing legally.”
By this time last year, six pedestrians had been killed crossing streets in the Valley. Overall, 21 died in 2008, according to LAPD records.
It was a slight increase from 2007, when drivers left 18 dead.
The body of the 34-year-old man was found in the 14500 block of Haynes Street at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday, about an hour after he was hit, by a woman who lives in the area, Bustos said.
The man, who had a partially amputated leg and relied on crutches, was bleeding from his head. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene, Bustos said.
Through the night, police remained in the area, west of Van Nuys Boulevard and next to a Bank of America branch, to piece together evidence.
Police described the vehicle as a four-door beige 1980s Honda Civic, with minor damage to the right passenger side above the headlight. They described the driver as a white male in his 40s, with salt-and-pepper hair parted in the middle and covering his ears.
The victim was identified Wednesday afternoon but the Department of Coroner did not release his name because investigators are still searching for his family.
His death comes eight days after a 60-year-old woman was killed crossing the street near California State University, Northridge.
Victoria Santos of Panorama City was hit March 9 by a pick-up truck after she stepped into a crosswalk at Zelzah Avenue, near Lassen Street. The pickup driver pulled over and called 911