A hit-and-run driver is on the loose after he slammed into a popular Castro Street business then ran from the scene of the collision.

According to an SFPD spokesperson, the driver of a black Mercedes convertible crashed into Cliff's Variety, located at at 479 Castro Street, at around 4:20 (ha ha we know) AM Monday.

Cliff's Variety, an iconic local business, was founded in 1936, and has been at the current location since 1971.

According to a witness who spoke with ABC7, even before the collision, the driver appeared dazed.

KCBS reports that the driver was headed down Castro toward 18th when he "crossed over the lanes, struck a stationary cement trash can, drove onto the sidewalk" then struck Cliff's, before taking off on foot. Police have yet to determine if the car was stolen, a police spokesperson said.

Cliff's owner Martha Aston, who was alerted to the incident when her alarm company called to say that something was amiss, says the driver “came into here and when he stopped moving-as you can see the blood on the sidewalk-he exited the vehicle and took off running."

Though the outside of the business was obviously damaged in the crash, no one (but, perhaps, the driver) was seriously injured.

According to ABC7, witnesses say the driver had a shaved head and a t-shrit with blood all over it.


[ABC7]
[KCBS]