Last night, we published a witness’s report about the hit-run crash at California/Dakota that killed a dog named Lucy (and nearly missed her owner). This morning, we have the story directly from Lucy’s owner Matt, who also shared the collage of photos of his beloved dog, as well as concerns he has beyond what specifically happened to him and Lucy:
My dog Lucy and I approached the crosswalk at California and Dakota from the west just before 7:30 on March 10, 2011 like we have done hundreds of times. We have crosswalks on arterial roads like California so people, their families and their pets may safely cross from one side to the other.
On this evening, we entered the crosswalk after the southbound vehicles stopped. I took a few steps into the crosswalk and waved my arms to get northbound traffic to stop. My dog by my side, the northbound traffic did not stop and my dog took one too many steps ahead of me and lost her life. The northbound car barreled through the crosswalk, almost hitting me but squarely hitting Lucy. The driver did not stop and my dog of 13 years was lost. This is a very sad day for me, my wife, and our 4 month old, who misses the dog she never got to know. Thank you for your support.
We have a few points we would like to make:
* This particular crosswalk has a school and playground on one side, a church and park on the other, and bus stops on both sides, which results in a lot of pedestrian crossing. This crosswalk is not respected, my wife, my neighbors and I have repeated that many many times. While we lost our pet, this just as easily could have been a child who slipped from their parents hands and stepped into traffic that didn’t obey the crosswalk. We would like to gather neighbor support to campaign for SDOT to implement additional precautions, other than flags which are often stolen or ignored by drivers.
* We did file a police report. The incident is a hit and run and the incident number is 2011-80320. If you know anything about the car or driver please let the police know. Officer P. Chang stopped by our house to listen to what happened and he said anyone with information can call the non-emergency line at (206) 625-5011, provide the incident number and any information that will help identify the driver or car.
* Regarding the (car), I saw what seemed like a 70’s/80’s sleek sedan dark in color. Like an Electrica or LeSabre. Officer Chang told us that someone identified it as an El Camino.
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