Police searching for vehicle involved in hit-and-run

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Team Coverage Stephen Ratcliffe Community Health Center is located just feet from the crosswalk where the man was hit today. Several staff members were just getting to work at 7:30 this morning when the accident happened.

Peggy Carter thought it was just another accident. "We heard a honk. Then it sounded like two cars colliding," she said.

People who witnessed the crash haven't gotten over what they saw.

Police searching for vehicle involved in hit-and-run

Hours later, one witness we spoke with was still shaken up by what he saw this morning. Ross Roybal said, "I looked to the west, and I saw a car coming full blast, just flying."

The impact knocked the man's shoes and hat off. Ross Roybal tried to help the man, who lay on the pavement with pelvic and leg fractures. "And I asked him, 'Are you OK? Are you OK?' And he wouldn't answer me," Roybal said.

Roybal yelled at a bus driver to call 911. Meantime, witnesses saw a man speed away in a 2000-2003 brown, Toyota Camry with Ski Utah plates. Roybal saw the car too. He's convinced the driver knew what he had done because the car stopped for a brief moment before continuing east on 10th North.

Roybal said, "He put his brakes on, and you could see his brake lights come on; and then they went off, and he just kept on going, and he never came back."

The victim, who's in his early 50's, had just walked to the middle of the crosswalk, then decided to turn around, possibly to catch a bus.

"There's information that maybe he saw his bus coming eastbound and didn't want to miss it and went back over to the bus stop. That's where his goal was anyway," Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Jeff Kendrick explained.

Salomon says that makes sense. He's seen the man out here before trying to catch a bus ride. He also believes the early-morning light may have been a factor. "It was very dark. The gentleman had a dark jacket on, dark pants, dark bag, dark hat, a hood on. I literally didn't see him when I first pulled up," Dental assistant Nic Salomon said.

Roybal still can't believe it. After seeing the crash, he went to work, but it wasn't easy getting through the day. "My stomach is still twisting right now man," he said.

Police say there are a number of reasons why someone would run in a situation like this, so they can't speculate why this driver didn't stop until they talk to him. Again, police are looking for a 2000-2003 brown, Toyota Camry with Ski Utah plates. If you have any information, call police at 799-3000.