It’s happened again.
A heartless killer runs down a cyclist and flees the scene, leaving his or her victim crumpled and bleeding in the street.
This time, it happened in Orange County, as a 47-year old cyclist was hit and killed near the intersection of Serrano Road and Ridge Route Drive in Lake Forest around 10:10 pm last night. The rider, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo suffering from severe head trauma, where he was pronounced dead early this morning.
Police are looking for a white van with possible front-end damage, which was last seen leaving the crash scene northbound on Serrano.
Photos from the scene show a mangled mountain bike with the headlight still glowing long after the crash, a lone sneaker giving mute testament to the fallen rider.
Anyone with information is asked to contact 855-TIP-OCCS or 855-847-6227.
This is the 11th traffic-related bicycling fatality in Orange County this year, and the 67th in the greater Southern California area. Of those deaths, 12 have been hit-and-runs, with 2 in Orange County.
That compares with a five-year average of 13 deaths in Orange County each year, and 68 in SoCal; however, it is far above the total of 55 cycling deaths in the SoCal area for the last two years on record.
The only area which has not yet recorded a bike death this year is sparsely populated Imperial County.
Update: LAist reports that the victim was turning onto Serrano from Ridge when he was struck by the van as it travelled north on Serrano.
Update: KABC-7 identifies the victim as 47-year old Randy Isaacs of Lake Forest.
“He was going to another house down the street three blocks away from us. He had put his daughter to bed, kissed her goodnight and said ‘Jesus loves you and so do I.’ And the next thing we know, we get a call from the hospital that he’s dead,” said Ute Ford, the victim’s mother.
A spokesperson for the OC Sheriff’s department says that Issacs appeared to be riding on the sidewalk, and rode into the crosswalk where he was hit by the van.
KTLA-5 offers a good video report on the case, which leaves three children without their father just a week before Christmas.
My heart and prayers go out to the Isaacs’ family and loved ones.
