Officials identify bicyclist killed after being hit by SUV in Oxnard
JOHN SCHIEBE/THE STAR A bicyclist was killed in Oxnard on Friday after being hit by an SUV. The SUV swerved to the other side of Lakehurst Street toppling a large magnolia tree.
Updated: Yesterday, June 24, 2016 at 9:08 p.m.
By John Scheibe
An Oxnard teen was arrested Friday after a crash involving an SUV and a bicycle left one man dead on a neighborhood street just south of West Gonzales Road.
The 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of fleeing the scene of an accident, Oxnard Police Department Senior Officer Jamie Brown said as he stood across the street from a mangled bicycle. Brown said the teen could face other charges.
Brown said the bicyclist was struck by the sport utility vehicle shortly after 7 a.m. near the intersection of Lakehurst Street and Janetwood Drive. He was taken to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, where he later died, authorities said.
Deputy Medical Examiner Bryce Elder identified the victim as Gregory Dominguez, 42, of Oxnard. Elder said an autopsy was performed on Dominguez and determined the cause of death was blunt-force trauma. The manner of death was an accident, Elder said.
After the crash with Dominguez, the SUV continued and knocked down numerous mailboxes along the right side of Lakehurst Street as it traveled south, police said. Before coming to a stop, it then veered to the opposite side of Lakehurst, knocking over a large magnolia tree, according to accounts of the incident.
The vehicle hit Dominguez with enough force that he was flung 15 to 20 feet in front of where his bicycle came to rest along the curb, police said. The bicycle's front wheel was sheared off, and its rider's hat was nearby, as was a blanket neighbors had placed on the man as they waited for an ambulance.
Kathleen Gransee and others who live in the area said the SUV's driver ran from the scene after the crash. Brown said the teen was taken into custody a short distance away.
The teen was taken to Ventura County Medical Center and later arrested, police said. Alcohol or drugs may have been factors in the crash, police said.
The SUV, which remained at the scene hours after the crash, is registered to a member of the teen's family, Brown said.
Accidents along that section of Lakehurst are sadly far too common, Gransee said.
"Cars come flying down this street all the time," she said as workers used a wood chipper to grind up the toppled tree.
"Had school been in session, this could have been much worse," Gransee's neighbor Traci McMurray said as she looked south toward Fremont Middle School.
"Kids use this street all the time to walk to and from school," McMurray said.
Fortunately, the school closed for summer vacation last week, the women said.
Both women said they've been telling city officials for years how dangerous the street is, to little avail.
Motorists often end up on Lakehurst by going south on Lantana Street and then taking a right on Lodgewood Way, which curves to the south and turns into Lakehurst, Gransee said.
"Once they're on Lakehurst, they really step on the gas pedal," said Gransee, who lives on the corner of Lakehurst and Janetwood Drive next to where the bicyclist was killed.
"We've asked for speed bumps, we've asked for stop signs — anything to get cars to slow down," she said. "We've gotten nothing from the city."
Gransee said she was especially upset after seeing speed bumps installed in another Oxnard neighborhood.
Joining Gransee as she spoke were other neighbors, including Jon Davis, who lives down Janetwood Drive.
Davis said his day began with a startle after he heard some loud noises.
He said: "I thought, 'What is going on?' "
Dick Maulhardt Jr., whose Lakehurst house is in front of where the bicyclist was killed, told a similar story.
"At first, I thought the noise had come from the backyard," he said. After finding nothing there, he said he looked out his front window, where he saw the damaged bicycle and the victim on the sidewalk.
Paramedics were called immediately, Maulhardt said, and performed CPR on the man. He said the man did not move while paramedics worked on him.
"I don't know if he'd already died or not," Maulhardt said.
Gransee and McMurray plan to continue the quest to get the city to slow traffic.
"It's tragic that this had to cost someone their life," Gransee said. "I'm hoping that now something might finally get done."