Woman fatally struck by car in Vallejo

Byby Tiffany Wilson KGO logo
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Woman fatally struck by car in Vallejo
Police are investigating after a woman who was aspiring to become a nurse was fatally hit on Curtola Parkway in Vallejo Tuesday morning.

VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- The Vallejo fire captain said a young woman was jogging when she was fatally struck by a car Tuesday morning.

She was crossing Curtola Parkway at the same intersection where a young boy was killed less than five years ago.

The coroner identified the woman as Rita Caballero, 23, who dreamed of becoming a nurse and just Monday she got a phone call from a hospital about having an interview there.

It happened at 6 a.m. at Marin Street and Curtola Parkway.

Five weeks ago, Caballero moved in with Denette Norton. Early Tuesday morning, Caballero grabbed her running shoes and set off for the waterfront. Then, emergency vehicles arrived a short time later.

"I seen the commotion, I just didn't know it was her," Norton said.

Police say a silver sedan hit Caballero. The impact sent her body flying like she had wings.

When Norton realized her friend was gone, she lost it. "All the sudden I heard the screaming. As soon as I heard the screaming, you know it's not the first rodeo for me, I knew what was going on, I didn't even have to look," one man said.

Now Norton is on a mission. "We need a light, a traffic light, right there because we already lost two people. The first one was a 9-year-old boy from upstairs," she said.

In 2010, Isaac Rosales, Jr., stepped into the Curtola Parkway crosswalk and was also fatally hit.

"We thought that after that, maybe they would've done something then and they didn't do nothing," Ronea Wood said.

As the neighborhood mourns, many also want to see the intersection change. "It's pretty dangerous, I stopped taking my kids to the waterfront because you know sometimes the cars won't even stop," Eleia Williams said.

"We need a light we can't lose no more people," Norton said.

Phone calls to the city have not been returned. The driver of the vehicle is cooperating with police.

Police are trying to determine if the woman killed was in crosswalk at the time.