Witnesses sought in fatal Palo Alto crash

PALO ALTO – Police are looking for witnesses to a collision that left an elderly pedestrian dead earlier this week in Palo Alto.

The crash was reported around 10:25 a.m. Monday at Charleston Road and Commercial Street, the Palo Alto Police Department said in a statement. Officers and firefighters arrived to find the pedestrian, a man in his 80s, unconscious in the roadway.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he died Tuesday. The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office will release his identity once it is confirmed and his next of kin is notified.

Police said an investigation revealed that a driver, a man in his 60s, hit the pedestrian with his 2002 Ford F-150 while making a right turn onto Charleston Road from westbound Commercial Street. The pedestrian was in an unmarked crosswalk at the time.

The impact caused the pedestrian to fall over backward and hit his head on the ground, police said. The driver called 911; he also remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation.

The police department’s Specialized Traffic Accident Reconstruction, or STAR, Team is investigating the cause of the crash, police said, adding drugs and alcohol did not appear to play a role.

Police urged anyone who witnessed the collision to contact the 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.