Officer Javier Montalvo photographs blood at the scene.
An elderly man was taken by ambulance to the hospital Monday afternoon after a driver hit him on Orange Street.
The collision occurred just past the corner of Bishop Street near Nica’s Market around 3:15 p.m.
The driver of the car said he had turned left onto Orange from Bishop on his way home when he saw a cyclist in front of him suddenly slow down. So, the driver said, he hit the brakes.
And at the same time he hit an “old man” who was crossing the street.
The driver said he hadn’t seen the man before hitting him, because the cyclist blocked his view.
“I bumped him,” the driver said. “He just fell.”
People came rushing to the scene, he said; a woman who appeared to be a nurse or doctor offered the elderly man assistance before cops and an ambulance crew arrived. The pedestrian said he was fine to walk home, but out of caution he was taken to the hospital.
The driver remained on scene, cooperating with police. He appeared shaken as he discussed the collision with a reporter. (He declined to give his name or to be photographed.)
“I hope he’s OK,” the driver said.
There was a spot of blood visible on the pavement from the fall.
Sgt. Brendan Canning, the supervisor on the scene, said the pedestrian appeared to be in his 70s. “I think he’ll be OK,” Canning reported. Police kept the block closed to traffic for close to two hours, and prepared to reopen it around 5 p.m.
