San Jose police are looking for a driver who appeared to have been trying to "beat traffic" Tuesday morning before striking an older man in a fatal hit-and-run.

The accident was reported about 7 a.m. near the intersection of North White Road and Florence Court, about two blocks away from James Lick High School, Lt. Tom Sims said.

Police were on the lookout for a white Ford pickup with tinted windows, black rims and a loud exhaust, Sims said. A witness told police that the pickup jumped the curb and cut through a gravel parking lot to escape. Lisa Barragan told NBC Bay Area that she heard the car speed off, which sounded like "burning rubber."

A police officer who had reviewed surveillance footage said the video showed a pickup with front-end damage trying to “beat traffic” before colliding with the pedestrian.

Surveillance video inside Pal's Laundromat captured the alleged pickup involved, police said. And surveillance video from inside Rica Panaderia Bakery on White Road, shows the alleged driver, where police said he was buying a baked good before the accident.

The man looked to be in his 20s, wearing jeans,a white T-shirt and a baseball cap worn backwards.

Joanna Ruybalid, who lives just a few yards from where the accident happened, can't believe the driver didn't stop.

"There's no way he didn't know he hit someone. You hit a rock and you know. This was a person," Ruybalid said. "This is my neighborhood -- there are a lot of kids here. We can't have people driving like that."

Anyone with information should call the traffic investigations unit at 408-277-4654 or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867).

NBC Bay Area's Shawn Murphy, Alan Waples and Marianne Favro contributed to this report.