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Rescue workers free a man that was hit and pinned down by a bus at the intersection of De la Vina and Figueroa Streets.

Paul Wellman

Rescue workers free a man that was hit and pinned down by a bus at the intersection of De la Vina and Figueroa Streets.

Bus Hits Pedestrian

Man with Cane Dragged from Intersection of De la Vina and Figueroa Streets

Monday, February 2, 2009
By Martha Sadler

UPDATE: The victim died on Monday night. See that report here.

A pedestrian crossing De la Vina Street was hit by a Metropolitan Transit District bus as it turned left onto De la Vina from Figueroa Street. The grey-haired, heavily bearded man was dragged several yards from the intersection before the bus was able to stop. He appeared to be unconscious, and bleeding profusely from his head, when paramedics pulled him from beneath the bus and placed him on a gurney for transport to Cottage Hospital.

According to a Santa Barbara Police watch commander, the pedestrian suffered a “very, very significant injury.” A walking cane was among the items he left behind. The man was crossing from west to east, said witness Domingo Ramirez, and was almost halfway across the street when the bus hit him. The accident occurred just a half-block from The Independent‘s office.

Two Santa Barbara Junior High School students were among the passengers on the full, Westside-bound Route 1 bus at the time of the accident. They said the first thing they were aware of was people screaming before the driver jumped off the bus, and back on again to call for help. MTD officials came running from the transit station one block away on Chapala Street, which the driver walked toward, while emergency vehicles arrived, a crowd gathered, and police taped off streets to detour traffic.

A victim is extracted from her vehicle after being hit by a vehicle that allegedly ran a red light at the intersection of Salsipuedes St. and Haley St.
Click to enlarge photo

Paul Wellman

A victim is extracted from her vehicle after being hit by a vehicle that allegedly ran a red light at the intersection of Salsipuedes St. and Haley St.

Earlier in the afternoon, a two-car collision sent a woman to the hospital after she was struck while driving east on Haley Street. Jose Cardozo, traveling north on Salsipuedes Street, allegedly ran a red light and hit her car with enough impact that they both spun around 180 degrees; the victim’s car crashed into a light pole that in turn fell onto a Volvo parked on the other side of the street, said S.B. Police Sgt. Mike McGrew. The female victim appeared to be in stable condition but was transported to Cottage Hospital, while Cardozo was under investigation for possibly driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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