Police, family of developmentally disabled Fort Bragg man plead with hit-and-run motorist to surrender

Except for three very bad occasions, Brandon Bazor usually makes the mile or so walk between work and home in Fort Bragg easily.

People along the route from his job at Mendo Mill & Lumber on South Main Street to his parents’ house on the east side of town know to look for him heading through downtown at the end of his shift around 11:30 a.m.

But Tuesday, as he crossed South Main at Oak Street, a left-turning vehicle ran him down in the crosswalk, leaving him with a smashed-up face, a profound sense of unease and not even the satisfaction of an apology.

Police say surveillance footage from nearby businesses shows the culprit turning into a nearby parking lot and waiting five minutes or so — as if debating whether to accept accountability and turn back to where a crowd had gathered to help Bazor, Capt. Tom O’Neal said.

Instead, the vehicle, a white mid-size SUV, possibly a Subaru, left the scene. And though by Friday authorities were increasingly hopeful they would be able to track down the driver, they were pleading for them to come forward and begin the process of healing for Bazor and his family, O’Neal said.

“It’s extremely unfortunate,” Mayor Bernie Norvell said, “but we need this person to do the right thing and come forward.”

Bazor, 40, has developmental disabilities. He doesn’t drive and has for more than two decades made the commute to his custodial job at Mendo Mill on foot, racking up miles and the kind of recognition that makes his well-being important to many in the community.

So, many were upset when he was assaulted two years ago. A knife-wielding man beat Bazor up when he refused to give the stranger money for cigarettes, his mother and others said.

He was able to pick his assailant out from a photo lineup, his mother said. Still “nothing really ever came of it, which has been very frustrating, especially for Brandon,” his sister-in-law, Grace Potter said.

“He should feel safe being able to walk around town just like anybody else,” she said.

Several years before that, Bazor was struck by a car just a block from this week’s incident, when a motorist at a four-way stop at Oak and South Franklin streets waved him across a crosswalk, but a second driver went across the intersection and hit him in the crosswalk. Bazor suffered a broken collarbone, his mother, Jackie Bazor said.

Tuesday, he started east across Main Street at 11:18 a.m., when the pedestrian signal told him it was OK. Bazor didn’t realize a car coming toward him on westbound Oak Street would be turning directly into him moments later without any attempt at braking, O’Neal said.

Bazor was thrown to the ground, though his injuries were mostly in his face, which took the brunt of his fall, his mother said. He broke an orbital bone and several teeth, though he did not require hospital admission, she said.

There were numerous witnesses, but they saw the vehicle slow at it traveled south on South Main Street, hang a left and turn into a CVS parking lot, where it stopped for several minutes, so they turned their attention to Bazor, not realizing the driver would soon leave the scene, officials said.

His face was too swollen until Friday for him to put on his glasses and see, and he could still eat only ice cream and lick oatmeal from a spoon, she said.

Potter, the sister-in-law, said he’s really upset and agitated, too. For the first time in his life, he wants a night light to sleep, and she’s worried that walking — his means of achieving independence — may prove difficult when he’s healed.

But his family support system is strong, and he’s well connected to a job coach and programs that will support him, she said.

“So many people have been reaching out and sharing information,” Potter said. “We’re all looking out, and I think we’re all counting every white SUV and Subaru that we see.”

O’Neal said investigators have continued to collect images from surveillance video to try to track and identify the vehicle, and say it likely has damage in front on the right.

They are asking any witnesses or anyone with unchecked surveillance cameras in the area to contact police Officer Lopez at 707-964-0200. Reference case number FA21001047.

Jackie Bazor, meanwhile, is trying to imagine how to get her son’s mouth fixed, given the cost and the fact that the specialized work that will be needed is not available in Fort Bragg.

“The fact that he got hit is awful, but the fact that you would drive away, just makes me sick,” she said. “I just don’t get people.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.