Berkeley woman, 77, struck by hit-and-run driver
The force of the crash left the woman face down in the street, according to preliminary reports. The investigation is ongoing.

Berkeley police are investigating a hit-and-run crash that sent a 77-year-old woman to the hospital Saturday night, authorities report.
The woman, who lives in Berkeley, was walking her dog at Cedar Street and Shattuck Avenue at about 6:20 p.m. when a driver struck her and kept going, authorities said.
The force of the crash left the woman face down in the street, according to preliminary reports.
She was able to speak but wasn't moving as first responders arrived, authorities said.
The driver was last seen heading west on Cedar Street in a white sedan, according to the initial investigation.
Longtime Berkeley resident Peter Hess was walking up Cedar with his wife, Viviane, on their way to Crepevine for dinner, when the fleeing driver nearly struck them at Milvia Street.
"This car came whizzing down Cedar," he said. "It clearly wasn't gonna stop."
When the couple got up to Shattuck Avenue, they saw the woman prone in the roadway as good Samaritans gathered around to render aid.
"She was conscious when they loaded her into the ambulance," Hess said.
The Berkeley Fire Department took the woman to Highland Hospital, Code 2, for treatment and assessment, according to dispatches reviewed by The Scanner.

As first responders arrived, the woman's little black dog was running around in a red raincoat with its leash dragging, said local journalist and Scanner contributor Kate Darby Rauch, who happened to be walking to Cheeseboard to meet her daughter, Bea, at the time of the crash.
The little dog appeared to be scared, but two BPD officers were able to comfort the animal and secure it by the leash until the woman's husband could get to the scene.
Read more about traffic safety in Berkeley.
Minutes before the hit-and-run collision, Berkeley police also responded to a two-car crash at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Allston Way that saw traffic diverted for a period of time.
Authorities said the incidents do not appear to be connected based on initial information.
BFD said the rain was keeping first responders busy Saturday night, between crashes in the city and on the freeway, gas leaks and other hazards.

Hess, the longtime Berkeley resident, noted that he and his wife are avid but cautious walkers, particularly after a family friend was killed by a driver while walking near Monterey Market last week.
"Everybody is walking on tenterhooks here in Berkeley," Hess said. "We were being very careful with our headlamps and other things."
"You have to be absolutely conscious at every intersection," he added.
This story will be updated if additional information becomes available.