Modesto man died 29 days after hit-and-run crash. Police continue to seek driver

Police are seeking the driver of a car that in April struck a man who reportedly was sleeping in the parking lot of a closed store on Yosemite Boulevard. Twenty-nine days later, the man died from his injuries.

The victim was Richard Lane, 59. About 8 p.m. April 13, he was in the parking lot of the closed Salvation Army Family Store, 1500 Yosemite, just across Kerr Avenue from the Modesto Gospel Mission.

The man whose car struck Lane got out for a moment, then got back in and fled the scene, witnesses told police. Lane was taken to a hospital in critical condition and was transferred to a convalescent hospital two weeks later. He died May 11.

When officers went to check on Lane at the hospital, they were advised he’d been discharged, Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said. They weren’t informed he’d been sent to a convalescent hospital, so it appeared his condition must have improved.

Lane’s niece Ashley Moskowitz told The Bee her uncle was with a group of homeless people who had been sleeping in the narrow parking lot of the closed store. He was lying down, resting or sleeping, when the car entered the lot and ran over him, she said witnesses told her and her mother.

Laura Lane, who is Moskowitz’s mother and Richard Lane’s sister, said the impact broke his skull and back. He died from a brain bleed, she said.

Moskowitz and Laura Lane told The Bee they’ve been out talking with homeless people in that area in hopes of identifying the vehicle and driver. They said witnesses told them the driver was drunk and laughed at having hit Lane. “Then he asked a number of homeless that just witnessed this if any of them wanted a cold beer,” Laura Lane wrote in a Facebook post that she sent in a message to The Bee.

Two people there held Lane until they thought he had died that night, his sister said. But “somehow, the paramedics brought him back to life,” she said.

MPD Traffic Unit officers continue to work the case and follow leads, Bear said. Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. Tips also can be submitted via www.stancrimetips.org.

This story was originally published June 3, 2019 at 9:58 AM.