MURRAY, Utah (ABC4) — A Bluffdale man was charged Tuesday after he allegedly drove away after hitting a woman walking in the road in Murray.
Douglas Shayne Hill, 34, was charged with failure to remain at an accident involving death, a third-degree felony, and driving an unsafe vehicle, an infraction.
According to court documents, the victim had been walking in westbound traffic on 4500 South just before 6 a.m. when she was struck by two vehicles and run over by a third vehicle on Feb. 9. Reportedly the victim was stumbling and crying in the roadway when she was hit. The street was dimly lit, and the victim was not using a crosswalk. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the first vehicle that struck the victim pulled over when they realized they struck something with the left side of their truck, according to charging documents. They said they backed up to investigate, and that’s when they realized it was a human. Officials have not pressed charges against the first driver.
The driver of the second car that struck the victim was Hill, charges state. The victim reportedly received her main injuries from Hill’s vehicle. After Hill hit the victim, he said he pulled over because he thought he ran over something that fell off of a construction truck.
Hill allegedly said after he checked to make sure he didn’t have a blown tire, he continued to work. Police say Hill’s front headlight was not working, and there was damage to the front bumper.
Hill later drove back to the accident site to see what he hit, according to charging documents. He reportedly said the road was blocked off, and there was a fire truck and lots of lights, but he couldn’t really see anything so he returned to work. According to the charging document, Hill did not stop and flag down officers when he returned to the scene because he couldn’t see anything.
While Hill was at work, he read a media story where police were seeking a silver Mazda leaving the scene and realized it was his car. Hill then called officials and told them about his possible involvement.
“If they had been picking up a body it would have changed my mind,” Hill reportedly said.
He also said he believed the scene was a secondary crash and was afraid he would get hit if he stopped. He said he wished he had stopped but did not want to see if it was a person on the road. Hill said if he knew it was a person, he would not have left.
The driver of the third vehicle that ran over the victim said they thought something fell out of the truck bed (of the first vehicle) and followed the Mazda (the second vehicle) in swerving around what they believed to be debris. Officers said that the third vehicle was not the vehicle that caused the main injuries to the victim and have not pressed charges.