SPRING VALLEY (CNS) - A car struck a 74-year-old man on an East County freeway early Friday, killing him and hurling his partially dismembered body into the vehicle, authorities said.
The man was walking or standing in a middle traffic lane on State Route 125 in Spring Valley when the southbound 2010 Hyundai Accent hit him near Spring Street at about 2 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
The La Mesa resident was killed by the impact, which severed his lower legs and sent the rest of his body through the windshield of the car, CHP public affairs Officer Brian Pennings said.
Panicked, the motorist, 46-year-old Harold Mittleman of Lemon Grove, kept driving.
"Emotionally, he didn't know what to do, so he drove straight home," Pennings said. Mittleman then made an emergency call to report what had happened.
A sobriety test determined that the Mittleman was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The deceased man's name was withheld pending notification of kin. It was unclear why he was on the freeway.
Mittleman told investigators that he came upon the man so suddenly he had no time to take any evasive maneuvers, Pennings said.
