Clovis ‘Dancing Man’ fatally struck by vehicle while walking near his favorite intersection

A Clovis “icon” was struck and killed by a vehicle Saturday night.

Dr. Sidney Carpenter, who many simply knew as the Clovis “Dancing Man,” died near the intersection where he’d entertained so many residents through the years with his dance moves.

Dancing with much enthusiasm while typically wearing headphones, Carpenter regularly got many people’s attention while grooving along the sidewalk at the intersection of Temperance and Bullard avenues.

He’d been dancing at the intersection for more than 10 years, all while generating curiosity and countless smiles from both those stopped at the crossing streets’ red light and others passing by.

“It was so nice to see someone so happy and just doing his thing without a care in the world that other people might’ve been watching him,” said longtime Clovis resident Jennifer Oneto. “This is devastating to find out.

“It’s just such a sad moment that someone who was like an icon in Clovis has passed away after he made so many people smile.”

Carpenter, 57, lived near the intersection.

Clovis Police said the collision happened around 7 p.m. Carpenter appeared to be crossing Bullard Avenue from north to south but not in a marked crosswalk at the time of the collision.

A vehicle traveling eastbound on Bullard hit him just east of Temperance Avenue, according to Clovis Police. Carpenter died at the scene.

The driver remained at the scene and was cooperative with officers. Neither drugs nor alcohol is suspected to be a factor, investigators said.

Nearby residents said pedestrians often cross Bullard in the same path that Carpenter took since there is a median island.

But residents added that vehicles are known for driving fast while approaching and going through the Temperance-Bullard intersection.

“When we first heard there was a collision at Bullard and Temperance and that a pedestrian was hit, we immediately thought, ‘Oh, no. It couldn’t be the Dancing Man,’” said longtime Clovis resident Helen Vargas, who with her children placed a remembrance sign of Carpenter at the intersection Sunday afternoon.

“Then we found out this morning, it really was him,” Vargas added. “It’s just devastating. We didn’t know him personally. But it always made us happy seeing him.”

Added 18-year-old Bree Vargas: “I feel like I grew up seeing him dance my entire life. We are going to miss him.”

Aside from being known for his dancing, Carpenter was a pathologist at Kaiser Permanente, his neighbors said.

According to the hospital’s online profile of the doctor, Carpenter joined Kaiser Permanente in 1999 and practiced as an assistant clinical professor of pathology at the UC Irvine Medical Center.

Melanie Boone, one of Carpenter’s neighbors who used to work at Kaiser, said Carpenter would even dance on occasion at work.

“He was just a really sweet guy,” Boone said. “Smart guy. Always dressed really nice and professional. Very good at his job. And I did see him dance a few times at the hospital.

“He loved to dance.”

Like many others, Boone often wondered what Carpenter was listening to that made him want to bust a move and why would he do it in such a public area.

“At first, it was like, ‘What is he doing?’” Boone said. “Is he exercising? But over the years, you realize that was just what he loved to do. That’s his zen. That’s what he does and it just made everyone smile.”

The Vargas family recalled seeing Carpenter dance near the intersection while walking his small dog. And at times, the dog would even dance with Carpenter by doing circles around him.

Then over the years, the dog no longer was around, which saddened the family while thinking what might’ve happened to his pet.

But seeing Carpenter still dancing without his dog brought the family some comfort.

“He brought so much joy to so many different people in the community and he probably didn’t even know it,” Helen Vargas said. “Stopping and going through that intersection never will be the same.”

A candlelight vigil was held Sunday evening near the Temperance-Bullard intersection.

This story was originally published November 28, 2021 at 1:45 PM.