Man Killed on Freeway New Year’s Eve

By Lookout Staff

January 3 -- In the last local traffic fatality of 2004, a man was struck and killed as he stood on the 10 Freeway shortly before midnight New Year’s Eve, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Authorities do not know why Marcos A. Paz, 34, was standing in the third lane of the interstate near the 20th Street off-ramp when he was struck by a passing vehicle at 11:38 p.m. Friday.

There was no disabled vehicle by the side of the road, authorities said.

“He was waving his arms at traffic,” said Lt. Fred Corral, of the Los Angles County Coroner’s investigative division.

Paz sustained “multiple traumatic injuries” and died at the scene, Corral said.

The motorist involved in the collision told officers that he was driving eastbound at 55 miles per hour when he saw Paz standing in the third lane west of 17th Street, according to the Highway Patrol collision report.

The driver of the 2001 Toyota Tundra said he tried to avoid hitting Paz, but “was unable to,” according to the report.

An unknown address was listed for the victim. “He could have been homeless,” Corral said.

Paz’s mother, who lives in West L.A., has been notified, he said.

The eastbound lanes were blocked, as more than a dozen Highway patrol and Santa Monica squad cars responded to the scene.

Authorities do no believe weather played a role in Paz’s death.

The night, according to the collision report, was “clear and cold.”