A 73 year-old Manteca woman died Friday morning after she weas struck by a vehicle while crossing Lathrop Road in front of Calvary Church.

Manteca Police are looking for the suspect who, after striking the woman as he drove eastbound, stopped and then fled the scene.

The woman died at an area hospital from her injuries following the 5:49 a.m. incident.

It was the first pedestrian death this year and the first involving a person crossing a street since December 2024.

A woman was killed in December 2024 while crossing North Main between Jason and Edison streets before work started on the median and pedestrian fencing now in place designed to prevent people from crossing mid-block on the busy arterial.

The December fatality was the fourth pedestrian in less than seven years to lose their life on the deadliest stretch of roadway in Manteca — North Main between Alameda Street and Northgate Drive.

Where the woman was killed Friday on Lathrop Road an hour prior to sunrise did not have a crosswalk. The closest is where there are signals at the Tidewater bike path crossing of Lathrop Road.

Lathrop Road traffic typically moves 40 to 50 mph.

The last pedestrian death per se was in April 2025 when a homeless woman was struck and killed by a train near the 120 Bypass overcrossing of Moffat Boulevard.

Almost all fatalities in Manteca during the past 15 years involving pedestrians crossing streets have occurred when pedestrians were crossing streets away from intersections and not in crosswalks.

There was an incident on Woodward Avenue when a grandfather pushing his grandson in a stroller midway across the street while in the crosswalk where he was struck by a westbound vehicle. The man died. The toddler was not injured.

There have been a number of serious injuries to pedestrians over the years.

The highest intersection for such injuries has been crossing Main Street at Edison where the high intensity pedestrian activated (HAWK) signal was installed.

The worst incident at that intersection saw two teen girls struck with one flying up and over the hood of the vehicle and slamming into the windshield.

Most non-street crossing pedestrian deaths involve those who were walking along the edge of roadways such as Lathrop Road.

Not only has Manteca targeted safety improvements on North Main that has been the leading corridor for pedestrian deaths but they are doing so in another troublesome area.

Two pedestrians have been killed in recent years while crossing West Yosemite near Kaiser Hospital.

One included an August 2024 pedestrian. The driver was arrested for gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs.

Manteca Police indicated the driver was impaired by marijuana.

It was apparently is the first fatal pedestrian accident in Manteca tied to marijuana use.

Over the years there have been at least two pedestrian deaths where the drivers were found to be impaired by legal prescriptions.

One fatality involved a woman killed in the mid-1990s in the afternoon as she was exiting her vehicle on Center Street in front of the library.

The city has required the placement of traffic signals at Yosemite and St. Dominic’s Drive as part of the Kaiser Hospital emergency room expansion.

Meanwhile, city placed bollards to protect left turn traffic to and from St. Dominic’s Drive to address a relative high rate of vehicle versus vehicle collisions at the intersection.

The Manteca Police Department is asking anyone that witnessed the Friday collision or has any information about it to call 209.456.8101. Reference case number 26-04476.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com