Updated 2:02 p.m., Jan. 2nd–
By Mike Hazlip— An increase in fatal roadway collisions in Citrus Heights was seen during 2023, with two of those involving homeless individuals.
Police records through Dec. 6 show a total of four fatal collisions occurred in 2023, with a total of five fatalities stemming from those collisions due to one incident resulting in two deaths. Compared to prior years, there were three fatal collisions in 2020, two in 2021, and three in 2022, according to data presented to the City Council earlier this year by Police Chief Alex Turcotte.
This year’s grim total started with a Jan. 22 collision involving two vehicles and a pedestrian along Auburn Boulevard near Cobalt Way. The collision killed 41-year-old Kimberli Washington, a driver in one of the vehicles, and Mystique Stephens, an area homeless woman, according to those that knew her. Police said at the time that speed appeared to be a factor.
A few months later, on June 27, an 82-year-old woman was killed while walking along Antelope Road between Lauppe Lane and Auburn Boulevard. Authorities later identified the victim as Vira Zheltonozhko of Citrus Heights.
Zheltonozhko was struck by a vehicle traveling along Antelope Road and pronounced dead at the scene, according to a previous report by The Sentinel. Several utility poles were damaged by the vehicle before Zheltonozhko was struck, according to a news report by ABC10.
Following the June collision, a motorcyclist was killed during Labor Day Weekend in a collision involving a truck along Greenback Lane. The motorcyclist, later identified as 50-year-old Mathew Hubbard, was killed near the entrance to the Citrus Town Center between Sunrise Boulevard and Arcadia Drive.
The most recent fatality occurred Sept. 29 when a bicyclist was killed crossing San Juan Avenue between Greenback Lane and Sylvan Road, The Sentinel reported. An advocate for homeless rights, Alfred Sanchez, identified the bicyclist as Rocky Phillips, a homeless man. Sacramento County Coroner records confirm that Rocky Dwayne Phillips, 46, was killed in a motor vehicle accident on Sept. 29.
Additionally, the body of a deceased woman was found on Nov. 21 near a creek area on the 7200 block of Sunrise Boulevard, but the incident did not appear to be the result of a collision.
The Sentinel is also aware of a report indicating a pedestrian may have been hit and killed on Dec. 23, on the eastbound I-80 on-ramp at Antelope Road, as well as a pedestrian who was hit on Dewey Drive near Connemara Circle on Dec. 30, 2023. Police Traffic Unit Sgt. Kane Kissam confirmed on Monday that both incidents were located outside of the Citrus Heights Police Department’s jurisdiction.
Related: Is crime on the rise in Citrus Heights? Here’s what police data shows
