Man Digging Through Recycling Bins Hit, Killed By Car Near San Pablo
SAN PABLO (KPIX 5) -- A man in the East Bay was hit and killed by a car in while digging through recycling bins early Friday morning.
The incident happened around 5:40 a.m. near the corner of Montalvin Drive and Lettia Road in unincorporated Contra Costa County near San Pablo.
It was still dark out when authorities got the call that a white pickup truck hit a pedestrian.
"The person was walking in the roadway during dark hours wearing dark morning so that could've played a factor in the crash," said California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Herman Baza,
The driver stopped at the scene and was cooperating with investigators The victim died at the scene.
Friday is trash day in the area, and neighbors told KPIX 5 the man who was struck was known to come to the neighborhood to pick through containers for bottles and cans. As one neighbor said, recycling sent him to heaven.
The Contra Costa County coroner was working to identify the victim.
The street has no stop signs, and the spot where the man was struck did not have lights directly above. As to whether that is enough to have authorities take a second look at that street corner, "Well, that would have to be determined through the local city if there is an ongoing issue there that needs to be addressed," said Baza.
A man who lives a few doors down from the crash scene says the victim walked through the streets with a limp, pushing his cart which appeared to have been damaged in the collision.
"It's really a bad thing that happened to him … because he was trying to hustle to survive, you know?" said neighbor Zel Kelly. "God bless him."
