MODESTO, Calif. — The Modesto Police Department is investigating whether a homeless woman may have been run over by a semi-truck while she slept on the sidewalk.
"The initial investigation does show that she was possibly run over or hit by an unknown type of vehicle. We believe it to be a tractor trailer or a semi, but we don't know if she was deceased before the accident or if the accident caused her to die," said Modesto Police Sgt. Kalani Souza.
It happened around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in the 1400 block of Yosemite Avenue in Central Modesto while it was still dark.
The sidewalk where the woman was struck is next to a large, vacant lot and adjacent to the Modesto Rescue Mission. Many homeless frequent the area.
80-year-old Wynama Briggs is homeless and a friend of the victim. She says the woman who died was named "Deborah" and was in her fifties.
"It's cold out. She's been out here a long time," said Briggs.
With the weather turning frigid, many homeless also flock to the Modesto Salvation Army shelter. It is at 95% capacity.
"We have approximately 40 (people) that are wheelchair bound and even more that are mobility challenged, so I don't think anybody expected the number of senior citizens that are homeless to be this high," said Major Harold Laubach, who heads the shelter.
Before COVID, people at the Modesto Salvation Army Shelter were told to leave during the day, but that policy changed and people are allowed to stay.
That's good news for homeless people like 52-year-old John Price, who stay at the shelter. He has been homeless for six months.
Price says he was evicted from his home after he had his leg amputated from diabetes and could no longer work. But, now, he is getting a prosthetic leg, can stay warm at the shelter and hopes to be back on his feet soon.
"It is getting cold outside and you can't survive out there in this, especially when it rains," said Price.
Modesto police are looking through surveillance video from businesses in the area and looking for witnesses to the Wednesday morning death.
If you have any information, you are asked to call Officer Jorge Contreras at 209-342-9152.
You can also email him at contrerasj@modestopd.com.
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