Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A sergeant with the Salt Lake Metro Gang Unit is on standard administrative leave following a fatal auto-pedestrian crash Thursday night.
The sergeant was on duty late Thursday and driving on 1300 South near Main Street when a man, believed to be in his 30s, started crossing the street. The man was hit by the sergeant, knocked into oncoming traffic and hit again by another vehicle, according to Salt Lake City police.
"It was raining pretty hard and the officer didn't see the pedestrian in the roadway until he actually struck him," said Lt. Derek Dimond with the Salt Lake City Police Department. "After he struck him, the pedestrian was thrown into the westbound lanes where a westbound vehicle actually struck him a second time."
The crash occurred during a heavy rainstorm and in an area that was extremely dark, according to police. Power in the area had been knocked out, the man was wearing dark clothing and was not in a crosswalk, said Unified Police Lt. Brian Lohrke. The sergeant, whose name was not released Friday, was not responding to a call at the time.
"We're saddened by this horrible tragedy," Lohrke said.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released, pending notification of his family.
The road was closed for about three hours overnight, but reopened Friday morning.
The crash will be investigated by the Crash Analysis Reconstruction Team, which is made up of officers from several departments around the valley.
Contributing: Linda Williams, Whitney Evans
