Authorities suspect he was homeless
A possibly homeless 39-year-old man killed in Lancaster when he was struck by a car whose driver tried to drive off was identified this week by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office.
The death occurred at 4:02 p.m. Aug. 5 on Lancaster Boulevard just west of Valley Central Way, Lt. Mark Pope of the Lancaster Sheriff's Station told City News Service. Justin Rhodes died at the scene, according to Pope and the medical examiner's office. His place of residence was not disclosed.
A woman stopped her car to allow what she believed to be homeless people cross the street when a man got up from a bus bench, hit her car, grabbed her door handle and tried to get in, a sheriff's deputy told a news videographer at the scene. The man was fatally injured when she tried to drive away, according to the deputy.
