TEMPE, Ariz. – One person is dead and an injured driver is facing a murder charge after a car-pedestrian wreck in Tempe Monday morning.

It happened shortly before 7 a.m. on Hardy Drive south of Baseline Road.

According to Sgt. Steve Carbajal of the Tempe Police Department, John Larson, 62, of Cambridge, Minn., was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said Pedro C. Ruiz of Phoenix was behind the wheel of the Jeep Liberty that hit Larson.

Ruiz did not stop after the accident, continuing south on Hardy Drive. He stopped only when he hit the block wall of a patio area of three condominiums not far from the wreck scene.

While the building was damaged, nobody inside was hurt.

Ruiz, 23, suffered serious injuries when his Jeep hit the wall, and was taken to a local hospital.

Carbajal said investigators believe alcohol was a factor in the wreck. The investigation is ongoing.

Once Ruiz is released from the hospital, he will be booked into Maricopa County Jail on one count of second-degree murder.

PHOENIX – A woman who was trying to catch a city bus was hit by a car Friday morning.

It happened just before 7 a.m. at 32nd Street and Indian School Road.

Witnesses told police the woman, who is believed to be in her mid-20s, was crossing the street against the signal.

“Certainly her attention was set on catching the bus,” said Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department. “It’s a problem we see far too often here in the Valley.”

A car heading east on Indian School Road, into the rising sun, hit the woman.

“[The driver] probably never even saw this lady who was crossing on a red signal light,” Thompson said. “The results were tragic.” The driver stopped, as required by law, and was talking to police. Thompson said that does not always happen.

“In this case, this woman [the driver] did the right thing. She probably won’t be cited for anything,” Thompson said. “If she had fled, it would have compounded things unnecessarily.”

The victim, whose name has not been released, was in critical condition when she was taken to the hospital.

Thompson said this kind of accident, in which people cross the street mid-block or against the light, are common in Phoenix.

A 10-year-old boy was killed Thursday night when he was hit by a pickup truck as he crossed the street outside a crosswalk. The driver in that case fled the scene.

Police closed Indian School Road in both directions at 32nd Street to conduct their investigation. That closure was expected to remain in place for at least a couple of hours.

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The man who struck two pedestrians last month is now facing three felony counts related to the hit-and-run accident after one of the victims died.

County Attorney Bill Montgomery announced at a weekly press conference that Christopher Perry, 53, has been indicted on manslaughter, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Just before 2 p.m. on Feb. 16, Nancy Franklin-Kan and her husband, Jeffrey Franklin, were crossing Central Avenue in a crosswalk in violation of the pedestrian signals at Lexington Avenue just south of Osborn Road.

According to police, as the couple approached the tracks they noticed a light rail train approaching and turned back toward the sidewalk when Perry’s car hit them.

Franklin-Kan was thrown onto the tracks and suffered severe injuries. She died at the hospital a week later.

Her husband suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Perry is facing a charge of leaving the scene of an accident because he fled as officers arrived on scene. He was caught after officers boxed him during stopped traffic.

He also faces driving under the influence, as police found him to be impaired at the time of his arrest.

Perry is the managing partner of the law firm Perry & Shapiro, which specializes in mortgages and foreclosure-related law.

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