School Crossing Guard Hit by Car as Horrified Children Look On

A popular crossing guard at Cohasset Street School in Van Nuys was in critical but stable condition Thursday after she was hit by a motorist and thrown across an intersection before a horrified crowd of children and parents.

Lillian Pennington, who for 20 years has bestowed hugs and kisses on students in her charge, was attempting to stop heavy traffic on Saticoy Street in front of the school about 9:10 a.m. when she was struck by an eastbound car.

The driver, 31-year-old Debra Townsend of Encino, told investigators she did not see the 64-year-old crossing guard dressed in a neon orange vest and cap because she was blinded temporarily by the sun, according to Los Angeles Police Officer Dennis Smith.

Pennington, who is known simply as Ann, suffered two broken legs, two broken arms and a fractured pelvis, police said. No students were in the crosswalk at the time of the accident, but about 30 parents and children watched from the corner of Saticoy and Densmore Avenue.

News of the accident sent shock waves through the 620-student school and two Los Angeles Unified School District psychologists spent much of the morning counseling students and staff members.

“She was like family with the children,” said cafeteria clerk Carol Collatos, who has known Pennington for the 20 years she has served at the Van Nuys corner. “She was always there with a hug.”

“She’s been here so long and she is so important to the kids,” Principal Maria Nini Villasenor said. She said teachers and students were taking news of the accident hard.

A third-grader broke into tears when she attempted to recount the incident for police investigators. Another student who saw the accident complained of a stomachache a short time later.

Witnesses said Pennington was about halfway across the marked crosswalk when she was hit by Townsend’s sports car, which was heading east on Saticoy at about 35 m.p.h. Police investigators said Townsend locked her brakes about 30 feet before she struck Pennington and the car skidded about 50 feet total. The impact knocked Pennington out of her shoes, witnesses said.

“There was a horrible thud and a scream and the screeching of brakes,” said resource specialist Sheila Burman, whose classroom is about 50 feet from the intersection.

Officer Charles Markel said police will ask the city attorney to file charges of failing to yield to a pedestrian and driving without insurance against Townsend. Both are classified as infractions, which are less serious than misdemeanors.

School officials said they have lobbied for several years to have a traffic light installed at the busy intersection to control speeding cars. By late morning, Pennington’s post was filled by crossing guard Shirley Stucker, who said drivers should be more careful around schools.

“God, I wish these people would be aware,” she said.