MENDOCINO CO., 10/13/25 — An 80-year-old man died after being hit by a vehicle near Covelo in Mendocino County on Sunday evening, authorities said.
The collision was reported about 8 p.m. on state Highway 162 north of Poonkinney Road and officers arrived to learn that someone drove away south on the highway after hitting a pedestrian, California Highway Patrol Officer Christian Zepeda said.
The pedestrian, a Covelo resident, was pronounced dead at the scene. His name wasn’t released pending notification of next of kin.
The driver was identified as a 20-year-old woman from Covelo who did not stop at the scene, but whose family member reported the crash less than an hour afterward. CHP officers and Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies went to the driver’s residence to interview her, and the CHP on Monday morning did not release any other information about the investigation.
The sheriff’s office said deputies in the area overheard overheard radio transmissions about the collision Sunday night and arrived within minutes.
“When deputies arrived, they found members of the Covelo Volunteer Fire Department performing emergency life-saving efforts to include Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on an elderly male,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The man was pronounced dead at 8:26 p.m. and a coroner’s investigation was initiated. A post-mortem examination will be conducted in the coming week to determine the official cause and manner of death.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the CHP’s Garberville-area office at (707) 932-6100.