Suspected hit-and-run driver fleeing Independence police killed crossing I-70
A man fleeing from Independence police died Saturday night when he tried to run across Interstate 70 after abandoning his vehicle and was then struck by a passing motorist, a police spokesman said.
The incident began with a hit-and-run crash about 8:20 p.m. in the 15400 block of East 42nd Terrace, according to Officer Bryan Conley with the Independence Police Department.
An officer spotted the suspected hit-and-run vehicle and attempted to stop it. The driver, however, allegedly refused to stop, and the officer gave chase, Conley said.
The police chase reached Interstate 70 and continued east on I-70 from Noland Road. Near the Phelps Road overpass, the driver abandoned his vehicle, jumped over the median and tried to cross the westbound lanes of I-70. Conley did not provide details as to why the driver stopped and left the vehicle.
As the man was running across the highway, a passing driver struck him. The name of the man killed in the chase was being withheld Saturday pending notification of his family.
No one in the vehicle that struck him was injured. The Independence Police Department’s accident investigation unit continues to investigate the incident.
The man’s death highlights the dangers posed when drivers flee from police, as revealed in The Star’s investigative series last year, “Reckless Pursuit.”
More than 320 people were injured and at least nine died in area police chases over a five-year period, The Star found in its reporting.
The Star’s investigation also found that Independence police conduct more chases than any other police force in the area.
