It happened in the middle of the afternoon Wednesday. Just after the incident, the scene looked like a routine traffic accident, but surveillance video captured a different view. It shows a man with a cane in the crosswalk, then a Paratransit van runs him over.
"At the green light, the van kept blowing the horn trying to rush the next car through the intersection on a green light when the car was trying to let the people through," a witness told ABC7. "So, as soon as the car got a gap, it went through, then the Paratransit van tried to squeeze through the same space as the Ford Escort, unsuccessfully, knocked the man flat."
At that intersection, the crosswalk is clearly marked. Police say the pedestrian was walking on the green light and the driver was turning on the green light. When he plowed into the man, he pinned him for 20 minutes beneath the van. "The driver did stay at the scene and was very cooperative with police. The police investigation determined it was simply an unfortunate traffic collision. There's no criminal investigation," SFPD Ofc. Albie Esparza said.
A witness says the van was full of disabled passengers but the company, Bay Med Express, refuses to confirm that or say anything about the accident.
According to police, the surveillance tape has been crucial in the investigation. The owner of "Empire Market" installed the system seven years ago after his nephew was shot to death inside the store. The victim of the accident he recorded Tuesday remains hospitalized with broken bones, but is expected to survive.
The driver apparently faces no charges. "I don't know in this case whether he was cited. I don't believe he was," Esparza said.
