Update, 3:40 p.m. Police have identified the driver as a 49-year-old Berkeley man, and the pedestrian who was struck as a 55-year-old man from Hayward. Officer Byron White, Berkeley police spokesman, said there are indications the pedestrian may have crossed the street against the signal light, according to the preliminary investigation. There were multiple witnesses in the area when the crash took place.
Update, 2:20 p.m. BPD has confirmed that the pedestrian appears to have been in the crosswalk walking eastbound across MLK at Adeline, as per the preliminary investigation. He remains in critical condition with injuries to his head, arms and legs, BPD said.
Update, 8 a.m. BPD said the roadway had re-opened as of about 6:20 a.m. and that the pedestrian was still alive as of about 5:30 a.m., which was the latest update available. According to the police radio, the pedestrian was thrown 45-50 feet from the crosswalk up to Woolsey. Berkeleyside is seeking confirmation.
Update, April 3, 2 a.m. At the scene, police used yellow tape to mark off a wide swath of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Adeline Street from Fairview Street north to Woolsey and Prince streets on either side of the Ashby BART station. Parking enforcement officers with flares held parts of the perimeter while officers inside the tape took photographs of the involved sedan, which was stopped in the street, with one headlight on, northbound on MLK just before Woolsey. As of about 12:30 a.m., two AC Transit buses had stopped in the roadway on MLK south of the police perimeter. Neither appeared to have passengers and the message on one read, “Not in service.”
Original story, April 2, 11:46 p.m. A pedestrian was in critical condition Tuesday night after a driver struck him in South Berkeley, authorities report.
The crash took place at 10:20 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Adeline Street, said Lt. Kevin Reece of the Berkeley Police Department.
The pedestrian, a 55-year-old man, was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland for treatment, he said.
BPD called out its Fatal Accident Investigation Team due to the severity of the crash.
Reece said the driver is cooperating and the investigation is ongoing.
“All directions of MLK and Adeline will be closed for the next several hours,” Reece said.
Berkeleyside will provide additional information when it is available.
