SAN DIEGO -- A 48-year-old man was killed Tuesday morning after two cars hit him as he jaywalked across a Clairemont Mesa thoroughfare in the predawn hours, authorities reported.

The unidentified pedestrian, who was a few blocks from his home, was not in a crosswalk when he stepped directly into the path of an eastbound Buick LeSabre on Balboa Avenue, just east of Genesee Avenue, about 5:30 a.m., according to San Diego police.

The impact with the sedan hurled the victim headfirst into the metal frame of its windshield, SDPD traffic Detective Dan Wall said. He then fell onto the roadway as the motorist pulled to a stop in the street nearby.

Moments later, the driver of an oncoming white compact car swerved to the left to avoid the stationary Buick and ran over the pedestrian again.

The small sedan dragged the man about 40 feet before he rolled free of its undercarriage, Wall said. The victim, whose name was withheld pending notification of his family, died at the scene.

The driver of the second car, believed to be a Toyota Corolla, slowed briefly, then accelerated and drove out of the area.

"So he knows he hit something," Wall said.

The motorist who left the scene could face criminal charges of varying severity, depending on the results of an autopsy on the pedestrian, according to Wall. If the man was still alive when the second car hit him, the driver might be charged with felony hit-and-run, the detective said.

If the victim was already dead, the motorist could be found guilty of a misdemeanor, he said.

The detective said he believed the initial impact likely killed the pedestrian.

In any case, the second driver certainly shouldn't have left the scene of a traffic accident, Wall said.

"You don't just take off," he said.

Police closed the thoroughfare in both directions between Genesee and Mount Abernathy avenues for more than five hours to conduct an investigation. All lanes were open again around 11 a.m., SDPD spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.

Apparently, the victim was crossing the street to get to a bus stop he used on a daily basis to go to an assistance center for special-needs adults, police reported.

The only known witness to the traffic fatality was the driver of the Buick, who made a 911 call to report it, Wall said.