Rossmoor Woman, 90, Dies in Third Traffic Fatality in Retirement Community in Seven Months

A 90-year-old Rossmoor woman hospitalized after being struck by a car last week died Sunday, police said. 

The victim, whose name was not available, was hit Friday by a car driven by a 91-year-old woman who was backing up in a parking lot for one of the residential complexes off Tice Creek Drive at about 9 a.m., said Walnut Creek police Sgt. Don Tetzloff.  The pedestrian was taken by ambulance to John Muir Medical Center where she died two days later. 

The crash does not appear to involve alcohol, and police are handling the case as they would any traffic fatality, said Tetzloff, adding that the woman's death so far appears to be a tragic accident. 

The woman's death brings to three the number of Rossmoor residents who have died since October in vehicle crashes. 

On Oct. 9, 2010, an 87-year-old woman while traveling on Rossmoor Parkway  and careened into the  creek that runs through the  Rossmoor Golf Course.  Police at the scene said the woman's injuries initially appeared to be minor but she was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Tetzloff said she died a few days later, either from the crash injuries or from a pre-existing condition. 

On the night of Dec. 10, 2010, 85-year-old Edward Phillips was struck and killed near his home on Pine Knoll Road. 

Robert Wyatt, a 70-year-old neighbor of Phillips, to three counts involving manslaughter, driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol-level of .15 percent or higher. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Initial police reports say that Phillips was struck by Wyatt's Bentley as he waited for a bus. 

Wyatt's attorney, William Gagen, said there might be factors in the case that could lessen the relevance of his client's alleged level of intoxication. Phillips was in the roadway when he was struck, Gagen said, and police are not sure why. They also don't know whether he was in the roadway to cross the road, either to the north or south, or to signal for a bus to stop. But he was not in a crosswalk, Gagen said. 

With the deaths of the 87-year-old woman and Phillips, Walnut Creek police the highest number of vehicle-related fatalities in the city in 20 years.