A 76-year-old woman was arrested Thursday in a fatal hit-and-run in North Park that killed a pedestrian last month, police said.
The victim, identified as 42-year-old Stephen Debow of Del Mar, was struck at about 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 21 as he was crossing the street in the 4000 block of Utah Street, just south of Polk Avenue, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Following the impact, Donna Chapman Jacobs, the suspected driver of the vehicle, continued traveling south and left the area, SDPD said.
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Debow died at a Hillcrest hospital six days later, on Nov. 27.
Police requested that Jacobs be charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run causing death or bodily injury, SDPD's Lt. Adam Sharki said. The arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 7.
Debow's friends gathered Tuesday night in North Park near where he was hit. They shared stories and reminisced on good times.
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"Let's take those old records off the shelf. Let's take those old records off the shelf," a chorus of friends sang with their arms around one another. They were remembering the time Debow sang that line alone, for three minutes, during his rendition of "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll" by Bob Seger at a karaoke bar.
The memory was a great example of Debow's sense of humor, according to his friends.
Accident witness Loanna Laserna heard the car hit Debow just outside her window.
“I did just see someone on the ground, and they sounded like they were in pain," she said.
Laserna didn’t get a look at the car before the driver sped away. She said better street lighting and a stop sign, changes she’s lobbied the city for many times, might have saved Debow’s life.
"The worst case scenario — someone dying, passing away because of something that could be prevented," Laserna said.
On Dec. 4, a city spokesperson told NBC 7: "The City will be conducting a traffic engineering review at the intersection to evaluate whether an all-way stop can be added."
Before arresting Jacobs, authorities reached out to the public for help identifying the motorist. Based on broken-off car components left behind at the site of the accident — including a driver's-side trim piece and a side mirror — investigators believed the involved vehicle was a 2017 to 2022 Hyundai Ioniq. Police had no description of the driver.
