Man killed while crossing Laguna Canyon

Mike Swanson

A man visiting Laguna from India died Saturday after a truck hit him

as he walked to the Sawdust Festival’s Winter Fantasy.

Santosh Rao, 27, crossed Laguna Canyon Road at an unmarked

intersection with two friends at about 6:15 p.m., Sgt. Jason Kravetz

said. His two friends stopped at the median, but Rao kept going and

was hit by a truck driven by a 22-year-old Garden Grove resident, who

police said wasn’t at fault for the accident. Traffic on the busy

street was lighter than usual, Kravetz said.

“It just appears to be a tragic accident involving a pedestrian

who wasn’t familiar with our city,” Kravetz said.

Rao worked for IBM and was on a business trip from India. He had a

temporary Irvine address, and was in Laguna Beach only to attend the

event.

A witness who saw the truck hit Rao ran to him and tried to

administer rescue breathing, Kravetz said, but Rao died on the scene.

The driver told officers he was driving between 35 and 40 mph,

which is within the speed limit, when he hit Rao. One of Rao’s

friends, who worked with the victim, said he wasn’t sure why Rao

didn’t wait at the median with the other two.

The driver wasn’t cited, but police performed a toxicity test of

the driver to determine whether he was under the influence, but

Kravetz said that was a formality in a case like this and that he

didn’t appear intoxicated. The results are expected in six to eight

weeks.

Both of Rao’s companions and the driver weren’t injured, but

Kravetz said all three were extremely traumatized.