Posted on 12/02/2004 12:45:37 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Woman killed by sheriff deputy's patrol car on Interstate 96
12/2/2004, 1:10 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — As rain fell, Ingham County sheriff's Deputy Robert McElmurray drove off U.S. 127 north and headed toward Interstate 96 east, responding to a call in Webberville.
At the same time Tuesday night, police say 34-year-old Tina Marie Potter was walking in the right lane of I-96 east, near the U.S. 127 ramp.
They were on a collision course.
Just after 8 p.m. EST, the deputy's car hit Potter. McElmurray, an eight-year veteran, tried to administer aid to Potter, but her injuries were too severe.
Potter, who was wearing dark clothing, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said they don't know why she would have been walking in the roadway.
"The conditions couldn't have been more right for it," said Michigan State Police Lt. Gary Nix, who arrived on the scene shortly after McElmurray's patrol car struck Potter. "He didn't have much of a chance. The odds were certainly against him being able to avoid her."
The accident happened after several drivers had called 911 to report a woman walking along U.S. 127, the Lansing State Journal reported Thursday.
The sheriff's department put the call out at about 8 p.m., asking deputies to get the pedestrian off the highway, Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth said. He said McElmurray may not have heard the call or realized, because he was leaving U.S. 127, that the pedestrian was nearby.
"It was a tragic event for all parties involved," Nix said.
McElmurray has been placed on administrative leave for the next few weeks, until an investigation of the accident is completed, Wriggelsworth said.
Nix said investigators are still trying to piece together details of the accident.
He would not provide the speed the patrol car was going, but said it was "not excessive."
Results of toxicology and blood tests on Potter likely will not be available for several weeks.
She was not carrying identification, but police were able to determine who she was from a receipt found in her pocket. She had no known address and few possessions with her other than the clothes she was wearing, Nix said.
Potter's family lives in Ludington, about 160 miles northwest of Lansing. Attempts to reach them for comment were unsuccessful.
Last year, 184 pedestrians were killed by vehicles in Michigan, according to the state Office of Highway Safety Planning. No information was available about whether any of those crashes involved police vehicles.
That's a Darwin award. US-127 and I-96 are both expressways for those who don't know. It's a high traffic ramp for those going to and from East Lansing and Lansing towards the East Burbs, Livingston County, Ann Arbor, and also the Detroit area.
First SUV's now Deputy's Patrol Cars.
I know this area too... what the hell was she doing there??
"The sheriff's department put the call out at about 8 p.m., asking deputies to get the pedestrian off the highway."
Talk about efficiency!
"...the deputy's car hit Potter.."
that car should be jailed!
-- First SUV's now Deputy's Patrol Cars. --
Right. Should have been "Woman commits suicide by walking in traffic"
CG,
Seriously, they really ought to have these cars corralled or something. Once you let them run free, they go straight for the interstate.
I'll bet the Deputy feels terrible. That's a bad thing to have happen to you even if it wasn't his fault.
All these cars and SUVs are just out of control! "Maximum Overdrive", cars coming alive and running over people on their own. Stephen King was a prophet.
The headlines always blame an object. "Gun kills Teenager", "SUV kills Pedestrian", "Deputy's Patrol Car Kills"
I agree.
I'm sure he feels bad. I feel for him and the lady's family. I get sick of headlines with an "Object taking action".
"Maximum Overdrive" that's the movie. Thanks
<sarcasm>What? A homeless person wandering the roads at night? Wow, that's a surprise!</sarcasm>
In the San Francisco Bay Area, they're more common than not. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often around here.
The sad thing is, as a child and young adult, I never saw vagrants on the streets of the Northern Peninsula (and I rarely saw them in S.F. because they were only in the "seedy" neighborhoods). Now, thanks to the Liberals, they are everywhere, like an infestation of human cockroaches, harassing people and literally polluting even the expensive suburbs.
Oops. I guess that wasn't very politically correct of me. Ha! Like I give a damn.
...First SUV's now Deputy's Patrol Cars....
Nothing more need be said
The Political Correctness Patrol is gonna open up a can of whine on you!
Headlines amuse me. "Mime Hears Tree Fall".
A real stinker of a movie. I had the AC/DC soundtrack though, which ironically enough was playing when I got in my first car accident.
Coincidence? I think not!
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