Pedestrian Struck, Killed In Petaluma: Police

PETALUMA, CA — A man may have tripped before being killed in a collision with a car Monday evening in Petaluma, police said today. Numerous people called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. to report a pedestrian had been hit in a collision with a Honda Civic in the 900 block of North McDowell Boulevard. Police and firefighters responded and found 54-year-old Bernard O'Donnell, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said O'Donnell suffered severe head injuries and chest trauma.

It appears O'Donnell walked west through the northbound lanes of North McDowell Boulevard to a raised center median. He continued walking west into the southbound lanes where he was hit.

The driver who struck O'Donnell, an 83-year-old Petaluma woman, stopped her late-90s model Civic just south of the scene and then cooperated with investigators.

N. McDowell Boulevard was closed at Corona Road until about 10 p.m. Monday as police investigated the collision.

Preliminary information from the scene indicated neither drugs nor alcohol or speed were a factor, police said.

The area where the collision occurred has streetlights on both sides of the street but it does not have a crosswalk and is not a safe place to cross, according to police.

O'Donnell may have lived nearby and may have been going home.

Police are still investigating the collision. Anyone with information about it or anyone who witnessed it is asked to call Motor Officer Mario Giomi at 707-776-3722.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone