Contrary to initial reports, a pedestrian who was struck and killed by a University of Utah police patrol car appears to have been in the crosswalk and just steps away from reaching the sidewalk.
Salt Lake Police detective Brock Young said his measurements of the crash scene show Samuel A. Storey, 33, had already crossed three of the lanes on South Campus Drive (450 South) at the University of Utah when he was struck early Sunday. Young said the man was about four steps from the sidewalk and had crossed from a lighted area into a darker one."He was 90 percent across the (traffic) lane," Young said. Measurements of the crash site also indicate that speed was not a factor in the crash.
The crosswalk was the scene of another auto-pedestrian accident Tuesday.
Motorist Christina Morita hit U. student Gregory Whitney, 21, said Bob Wilson, chief of the U. Police Department. Police took Whitney to the University Hospital, where he was treated for bruises and abrasions.
A police report filed Sunday stated that Storey was east of the crosswalk as he crossed the street. Young said although his investigation is not complete, it appears Storey was walking in the crosswalk.
"There is nothing to put him out of the crosswalk. In this stage (of the investigation) I'm of the mind he was in the crosswalk," Young said.
University officials said Storey was not a student, although he had registered to be a male model for art classes. He was carrying an Arizona driver's license and his backpack was filled with books, papers and clothing. Storey may have been transient and had applied for jobs at a store and a library near the U., Young said.
Storey had not attended Saturday's U2 concert on campus but reportedly spent the evening in the university's library, Young said.
The main witness to the collision, Paul Smith, had attended the concert and was walking around campus when he spotted Storey and asked him for directions to the University Park Hotel just before midnight.
Because it was dark and the hotel not visible from that point on campus, Storey offered to show Smith to a phone so he could call for a hotel shuttle, Young said.
The two parted ways when they reached the telephone. It appears Storey crossed South Campus Drive from the north side, which was illuminated by a street light, to the darker south side. The man was also wearing dark clothing.
That stretch of South Campus Drive is straight with a slight upgrade. Smith said he didn't get a good look at the patrol car and couldn't guess at its speed because he was on the phone and turned around when he heard the crash, Young said.
But, the investigator says he knows "there was no excessive speed in the accident."
Young, who teaches classes in the investigation of auto-pedestrian accidents for the police academy, said pedestrians at night are visible from about 175 feet, while a car with headlights is visible from about 1,000 feet.
Young predicts it will take at least two more weeks to complete the investigation while he awaits the state medical examiner's report, the death certificate and the results of blood tests done on both the officer and Storey.
The driver, officer Mikal Wers-land, is on paid administrative leave from the University Police Department.