ORANGE : Hit-Run Driver Kills Pedestrian

A 39-year-old woman was killed Thursday when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver as she crossed a street in Orange, police said.

Officers said they are seeking the public’s help in finding the driver who sped away after he ran his vehicle into Rosa Alvarez Calletano of Orange at about 6:15 a.m. while she was walking in the crosswalk on Tustin Street at Adams Avenue.

Orange police Sgt. Art Romo said police do not have a description of the driver or the car that struck the woman.

Calletano’s death caused a major traffic tie-up as officers converged to investigate the scene. Tustin Street, a major north-south thoroughfare near the Mall of Orange and parallel to the Costa Mesa Freeway, was closed during morning rush hours between Katella Avenue and Collins Avenue.

“Cars (were) being rerouted back onto the freeway or into the residential streets around that section” of Tustin Street, Romo said.

Investigators were hoping to find a witness to the accident, Romo said. He asked that anyone with information contact Detective Jim Pyne at (714) 532-0629 or the Orange Police Department desk at (714) 532-0365.