Police identify man killed on New Year’s Day

The pedestrian killed on New Year’s Day has been identified as Randy Breeton, 49, of South Lake Tahoe.

Breeton was crossing Highway 50 near the Town and Country Center about 8pm when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Uriel Ortiz, 19, of South Lake Tahoe. Officers said Ortiz was not at fault.

Results of an autopsy are pending to determine if Breeton was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

“Over the past five years, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department had arrested Mr. Breeton for 38 separate occasions of public intoxication to the point he was unable to care for his own safety. Mr. Breeton possessed an open beer can with an inserted straw still inside his jacket at the scene of the collision,” police Lt. Brian Williams said in a press release.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report