Driver Sought in Pedestrian’s Death

LAGUNA BEACH — Police were canvassing a north side neighborhood late Wednesday in search of witnesses to a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian on Cliff Drive on her 65th birthday.

Laguna Beach Police Chief Jim Spreine said officers were seeking the driver of a light-colored Ford Ranger that was traveling at high speed about 6 p.m. Tuesday when it struck Elizabeth Stock near the intersection of Rose Bonheur Drive.

Stock had given up driving several years ago because of the congestion on local streets.

“I can’t stop thinking about that,” said friend Jean Kaye. “She always said she didn’t realize how much she’d been missing cooped up in a car all those years. She said she should have given up driving ages ago. She thought for sure she’d found the secret to a longer life.”