Driver of Sunnyvale Pedestrian Hit-and-Run Turns Himself In

Police in Sunnyvale arrested a man suspected of killing a pedestrian with his car on Saturday afternoon and injuring two other people, police said.

San Jose resident Brian Rathjen, 45, turned himself in to police after allegedly fleeing the scene of two collisions, police said.

The first collision was at 12:21 p.m. when two people, a 59-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman, were crossing Hollenbeck Avenue at Danforth Drive, police said.

The victims had just begun to cross the road when a car allegedly driven by Rathjen veered across traffic and struck them, according to police.

The driver fled, carrying the woman with the car for a short distance. Both victims were taken to a hospital with critical injuries, and the man was pronounced dead Monday morning.

Shortly before 1 p.m., Los Altos police received reports of a wrong-way driver on Foothill Boulevard. A few minutes later, they received reports that the car had been involved in a collision.

When police arrived, they found the 1991 Acura, which had been disabled in the collision. The driver had fled.

One victim was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

At 1:05 p.m., Rathjen called 911, told dispatchers that he was the person they were looking for, and gave his location.

Los Altos and Sunnyvale police arrived and arrested him.

He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and four counts of battery on a police officer.

Witnesses to the accident are asked to call Sunnyvale police investigators Scott Cortese or Andrew Laveroni at 408-730-7109.

—By Scott Morris, Bay City News Service