A 22-year-old Boys & Girls Club staff member died after an SUV hit her while she was leaving work at a San Bernardino elementary school on Oct. 16.
Sarah Virgen had finished her work at Kendall Elementary School, 4951 N. State St., when a vehicle hit her while she was crossing the street outside a marked crosswalk to get to her car, according to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Redlands-Riverside.
“Working with the kids was an important part of Sarah’s life,” the Club said in a statement. “She had a real heart for children and for helping them in any way she could.” Virgen was a youth leader who worked for the Club since May.
The Club said grief counselors would be available to staff and members.
Officers responded just before 6:40 p.m. after a black Dodge Durango driving southbound on State Street hit Virgen and continued, according to the San Bernardino Police Department.
Paramedics took Virgen, of San Bernardino, to a hospital, where she died.
About an hour after the crash, the driver returned to the crash site and told officials that he thought he hit an animal, police said.
The driver was unlicensed and potentially legally blind, but he didn’t have signs of impairment police said.
Investigators are submitting the case to the county district attorney’s office for consideration.
