ENCINITAS — The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help identifying a driver who seriously injured an Encinitas pedestrian in an Aug. 16 hit-and-run, releasing new details about the suspect vehicle as the victim faces a lengthy recovery.
In a Sept. 8 release, the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station said investigators believe a silver 2012-2014 Toyota Prius V struck a 49-year-old man walking along a roadway in the Village Park neighborhood. The driver did not stop and left the scene.
More than three weeks later, Mike Eisenberg said his right leg remains weak with limited mobility, and he experiences frequent pain, including throughout the night. According to an MRI report provided to The Coast News, Eisenberg sustained a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in his right knee, a small fracture near his knee and a likely strain or minor partial tear of another knee ligament.
“My recovery is slow, but I am making progress,” Eisenberg told The Coast News. “I’ve never had an injury that takes 9-12 months to recover from, and as someone who cherishes the ability to jog, exercise and take walks, it’s really hard to accept being out of commission for so long.”
Deputies responded to the incident shortly after 10:15 p.m. Aug. 16 in the 400 block of Glen Arbor Drive in Encinitas. Eisenberg suffered major injuries and was taken to a hospital, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators recovered a part believed to be a passenger-side headlight washer. The suspect vehicle may be missing that part and could have additional front-end damage, authorities said.
The Sheriff’s Office released a photo of the recovered part and an image of a similar Prius to help the public identify the vehicle.
Sheriff’s investigators have not yet identified the driver, and the collision remains under investigation.
Eisenberg previously told The Coast News he was walking against traffic in a parking lane along Glen Arbor Drive near Leafwood Place when a vehicle veered toward the edge of the road and struck the lower right side of his body. The impact knocked him out of one shoe and sent him several feet backward onto the pavement.
Witness Megan Dietz, who was walking her dog across a nearby greenbelt, said she heard screeching tires and a thud before seeing a white hatchback or small SUV traveling south toward Encinitas Boulevard with visible front-end damage and a scraping noise.
Dietz called 911 after hearing Eisenberg call for help.
Eisenberg, a patent attorney and longtime Encinitas resident, said he now wears compression shorts to help fluid drain from a lesion on his right hip.
As he recovers, Eisenberg said the response from neighbors and friends has reinforced his faith in the community. He thanked Dietz, the men who came outside to provide first aid, neighbors who shared surveillance video and others who have helped him recover or search for the driver.
“For years, I jogged past numerous dwellings, blissfully ignorant of the people who occupied them,” Eisenberg said in an email to The Coast News. “Those people living there stepped up when it mattered, and I am thankful.”
“It’s immensely satisfying and humbling to know people care,” he added.
The collision also has prompted Eisenberg to call for safer neighborhood streets and greater use of license-plate readers and security cameras to help identify fleeing drivers.
“The current state of things is we depend on random citizens to have video,” Eisenberg said, noting that the footage available in his case has not been clear enough to identify the vehicle.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or captured it on video is asked to call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office at 858-868-3200. Anonymous tips can be submitted to San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 or through sdcrimestoppers.org.
