4th Transvestite Meets Violent Death in Less Than 3 Months

San Diego police are searching for the driver of a car that hit and killed a transvestite early Tuesday in East San Diego. The victim was the fourth transvestite to die violently in San Diego County since June.

The coroner’s office has not yet identified the man who was struck on University Avenue by a brown Ford station wagon with wood veneer paneling and a luggage rack on top, police said.

Just before the incident, a passenger got out of the vehicle, confronted the transvestite and a fight broke out, Lt. Dan Berglund said.

Meanwhile, the car apparently circled the block and returned, picking up speed and hitting both men.

The transvestite was trapped under the station wagon and dragged for about half a block. The passenger, whom police are also seeking, limped away from the scene, witnesses told police.

“Homicide was notified when it was determined that the victim had been intentionally run down,” said Bill Robinson, a spokesman for the San Diego Police Department.

The man was taken to Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators learned that the man was a transvestite.

Witnesses described the driver of the station wagon as a man in his 40s with a mustache who was last seen driving east on University Avenue.

This is the fourth transvestite killed in San Diego County since June 12.

Two died in shootings near the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and a 24-year-old man was shot to death July 3 in San Diego.

Berglund said the four homicides do not appear to be related because the weapons used and racial backgrounds of the victims are different.

Police said they do not have a motive for Tuesday’s incident.