Deputy’s Car Hits, Kills Pedestrian
A San Diego County sheriff’s deputy struck and killed a 56-year-old Encinitas man with his patrol car late Saturday night, the Sheriff’s Department said Sunday.
The deputy, Jay Spina, was traveling north in his car in the 100 block of North Pacific Coast Highway in Encinitas when he struck Jose Mendoza-Hernandez shortly before 11:30 p.m., a sheriff’s spokesman said.
According to a witness, Mendoza-Hernandez saw the deputy’s vehicle approaching as he and two other men left a bar, but apparently felt he had enough time to safely cross the road.
The deputy was traveling about 30 m.p.h. when he struck Mendoza-Hernandez, who was not in a crosswalk, a spokesman for the San Diego County medical examiner’s office said.
Mendoza-Hernandez, who suffered massive internal injuries, died at the scene.
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