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.
Poor cop. Poor lady.
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