Crime & Safety

Fatal San Rafael Pedestrian Crash Victim ID'd as Novato Woman

The early afternoon crash left another pedestrian hospitalized with major injuries.

By James Lanaras

Bay City News Service

 

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A Novato woman was killed and a man was injured when they were struck and run over by a dump truck in a San Rafael crosswalk early this afternoon, police said.

At 12:17 p.m., the couple was walking west on the south side of Third Street and was crossing Hetherton Street in a crosswalk when a loaded dump truck traveling west on Third Street turned left onto Hetherton and struck them, San Rafael police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher said.

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The woman, identified as 67-year-old Olga Rodriguez of Novato, died at the scene and the man was taken to Marin General Hospital with major injuries, Cpl. Justin Graham said.

Both the pedestrians and the truck had a green light but the driver should have yielded to the pedestrians, according to Rohrbacher.

The truck driver said he didn't see the couple in the crosswalk, but stopped after he heard a sound and looked in his rearview mirror, Rohrbacher said.

"It was just horrible, it's heartbreaking" said Andy Falk, who was near the intersection at the time of the crash.

"That's just a really dangerous intersection, I cross there every day and people are always dodging cars."

Graham said it appears that alcohol is not a factor in the collision. It took place in a busy section of city streets, and San Rafael police are asking any witnesses to call them at (415) 485-3000.

 

Gideon Rubin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2014 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.