81-year-old hits, kills man
Strikes pedestrian as he walked on County Road 1

A damaged van sits off County Road 1 near Tsayatoh, Tuesday. The driver of the van reportedly struck a pedestrian in Tsayatoh and then drove about a mile down the road before abandoning the vehicle. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Philip Stake
Staff writer

MENTMORE — An 81-year-old man traveling on County Road 1 Tuesday morning struck and killed a pedestrian.
According to McKinley County Chief Investigator Albert Benally, the man was driving a full-size van at excessive speed and near the shoulder of the road when he hit a younger man who was taking a walk up the road to use a telephone.

The pedestrian was killed on impact, though the driver failed to stop for about a mile. The pedestrian appeared to have been wearing headphones and carrying a portable CD player.

McKinley County investigators were dispatched to the scene at around 9:30 a.m., but, because of jurisdictional issues, the investigation was turned over to Navajo Police Crownpoint District. Navajo Police could not provide the name of the driver nor of the pedestrian Tuesday afternoon.