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OGDEN -- Ogden police are trying to find a driver who hit and killed a man in Ogden this morning.
It happened in the area of 28th Street and Wall Avenue around 6 a.m. when it was still dark. The man was crossing Wall Avenue near 28th Street when he was hit.
Police and medical responders arrived within minutes, but Frank Gallegos was already dead.
"We were able to identify him based on information we had on him," Ashment said, noting that the man was a local transient. "We don't know if he was crossing or if he just wandered out there."
The driver took off, and now police are asking for the public's help in tracking him or her down.
The man who called 911 heard a thud, looked outside and saw a large tan vehicle, possibly a van or SUV, leaving the scene. Investigators say it would have front-end damage.
It seemed to me that somebody would have known that they hit the person, because he flew from there to there. I mean, it wasn't like they just hit something like it was a can or something -- it was something big, a big object.
–Letonya Morris
"That noise directed their attention that way and they saw the victim in the roadway and saw what they described as a larger vehicle leaving northbound," said Ogden police Lt. Mike Ashment.
Letonya Morris came outside right after the accident and saw Gallegos' body in the street.
"It seemed to me that somebody would have known that they hit the person, because he flew from there to there," she said. "I mean, it wasn't like they just hit something like it was a can or something -- it was something big, a big object."
Neighbor Tarra Jimenez said, "It's horrible, it's sad. This guy was just crossing the street. He wasn't too far from the corner."
The area has a lot of foot traffic between the rescue mission and the dog food plant, but there are no crosswalks. Police say because of the time the accident happened, it's possible the driver didn't see the man or know he or she hit him.
Investigators hope to review surveillance video from nearby businesses for leads in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Ogden police at 801-629-8221.
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Story written with contributions from Mary Richards and Anne Forester and Emiley Morgan.
