Crossing Guard, 60, Killed by Motorist

A crossing guard was struck and killed outside a North Hollywood elementary school Tuesday morning by a 17-year-old motorist who lost control of his car, police said.

The guard, William Edward Hooper, 60, of Tujunga, was pronounced dead at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, minutes after being hit across the street from Lankershim Elementary about 7:20 a.m.

The driver, who had been eastbound on Magnolia Boulevard, was momentarily distracted--possibly by the sun’s glare--and drove his 1989 Dodge Colt station wagon onto the curb at Bakman Avenue, Det. Bill Bustos of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division said.

No children were in the immediate area of the accident, a witness said, though many children walking to school a short time later saw the aftermath: behind police tape, the badly damaged car in the middle of the street, with a small tree under its wheels and Hooper’s open-fisted glove wedged between the antenna and hood.

An investigation is continuing, but Bustos said police have no information indicating the driver had been speeding.

Police said the teen, who was alone in the car, had been running errands for his parents. He was driving between 25 mph and 35 mph and was sober, Det. Ron White said. Physical evidence does not suggest excessive speed was involved, White added.

“There’s no indication he was doing anything other than driving in the road,” White said. “This really appears to be a traffic accident.”

Spring Astorga, a Lankershim Elementary parent who said she saw the accident, said the car was moving about 50 mph--15 mph over the posted limit--with no children present.

“In my heart, I know he was speeding,” she said.

The intersection has a painted crosswalk, but no stop sign or signal for east-west traffic. Astorga and others said speeding cars make it a dangerous spot for children to cross.

“They’ve got to do something about the street right here,” Astorga said. “People don’t care. They don’t stop.”

In a statement, Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro said his office requested a traffic light for the intersection but the city Department of Transportation denied the request in 1999.

Irwin Chodash, East Valley district engineer for the transportation department, said signals already exist on Magnolia Boulevard at the nearby intersections of Tujunga Avenue and Lankershim Boulevard.

“I don’t think a signal would have prevented this accident,” he added. “The way it sounds, he lost control of the car.”

The accident occurred one day after a Valley traffic summit, where police and others detailed the region’s many traffic hazards. To date this year, officials said, more than 60 people have died in traffic incidents on Valley streets.

Department of Transportation supervisors said accidents involving Valley crossing guards are rare--fortunate, they said, considering guards’ proximity to fast-moving traffic.

“Oh Lord, it’s a dangerous profession,” said Elma Walker, a senior traffic supervisor. “But this is the first time that I know of a crossing guard being killed. They do get hit . . . because [motorists] drive fast in L.A., and don’t pay attention.”

Hooper, an alternate guard who took assignments throughout the area, became a crossing guard in September 1999. He was assigned to work the Bakman Avenue corner this week, though he felt it was unsafe, said his fiancee, Carol Armstrong.

“Bill didn’t really care for this corner,” Armstrong said. “In fact, he was going to go to Mass on Sunday . . . because he was going to be back on it.”

Armstrong and the victim’s brother, John Hooper, 65, of San Diego County, said Hooper was a caring man who had quit working as a bank security guard because he thought it was too dangerous. Although he didn’t have children of his own, William Hooper loved children, his brother said.

“This was a special man,” Armstrong said. “There’s not anything he wouldn’t do for anybody. I know you hear that a lot, but he was the kindest, most giving, most unselfish person.”

The Los Angeles City Council adjourned its meeting Tuesday in Hooper’s memory.

In North Hollywood late Tuesday, Magnolia Boulevard was blocked to incoming traffic, and Hooper’s replacement, Wilbert Tavera, 64, had little to do but look on as investigators reconstructed the scene.

“It’s really dangerous, especially on corners like this, where we have no lights,” he said. “People don’t expect us.”