Dump truck hits, kills pedestrian in San Francisco
A dump truck hit and killed a pedestrian in a San Francisco neighborhood Tuesday morning.
San Francisco police said officers responded at about 8:44 a.m. to a report of a vehicle collision involving a pedestrian at Parnassus Avenue and Stanyan Street in the city's Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights neighborhood.
Officers found a man suffering from injuries and provided first aid while medics arrived. Police said despite the life-saving efforts by officers and medics, the man died at the scene.
A dump truck was stopped at the scene a few feet away from the pedestrian and within a police yellow tape cordon. Police said the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene to speak with investigators and that neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be a factor in the crash.
Parnassus Avenue was closed while police covered the body with a tent and investigators processed the scene.
Shortly before 1 p.m., the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management confirmed that crews were clear of the scene.
The victim was not identified and police did not provide any additional information about the incident.
Advocacy group WalkSF issued a press statement saying the victim was a 70-year-old man.
A vigil held for him Tuesday evening at the crash location at Stanyan Avenue and Parnassus Street.
"Our hearts are broken for the man who died this morning simply crossing the street," said WalkSF executive director Jodie Medeiros in a prepared statement. "We are holding his loved ones in our thoughts, and know the entire neighborhood shares in our grief and concern."
WalkSF said the death was San Francisco's 20th traffic-related pedestrian death of 2024.
"Our leaders should be prioritizing this, should be putting the resources and the importance on this because I just talked to so many neighbors and they are so upset. They are like, 'That could have been me,'" Medeiros told CBS News Bay Area at the vigil.
Cat Whalen said she has lived off Stanyan Street for five years and over that time she's probably crossed through the intersection of Stanyan and Parnassus thousands of times.
"Every day I feel like I don't want to use this intersection, but I have no choice," Whalen said.
Whalen said over the years she's seen countless cars blow through red lights at the intersection and cut in front of pedestrians in the crosswalk. She has almost been hit herself.
"Like quite a few times over the past five years, but I've just become really, really numb to it," she told CBS News Bay Area.
On Thursday, the pedestrian was identified as 70-year-old San Francisco resident Jose Chow.
Anyone with information about the crash was asked to contact SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP 411 and begin the message with SFPD.
