Man found dead in grassy ditch near highway in Arlington; may have been hit by SUV
.jpg "A man who was found dead in a grassy ditch in Arlington may have been hit by an SUV, police say.")
A man who was found dead in a grassy ditch off Interstate 20 and South Cooper Street in Arlington is suspected to have been hit by a car, police said in a news release Monday.
Police responded to the scene just before 7:30 a.m. Monday after someone said they saw an unresponsive man lying in the ditch between the service road and the westbound entrance ramp. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to release his name.
The driver of a Ford Explorer had previously reported he may have hit something as he drove down I-20 approaching Bowen Road earlier that morning, police said.
At the time, about 12:40 a.m., the driver did not know what he hit and had pulled off into a nearby parking lot while he waited for police to arrive. He initially thought it may have been a stray car part, and his SUV sustained front-end damage, according to the release.
Police did not find what the driver hit, and are now investigating whether the man they later found dead was hit by the Ford Explorer. They say it’s unclear why the man was on the highway.
“The Arlington Police Department would like to remind the public that pedestrians should NEVER enter highway lanes,” a police department official wrote in the release. “Due to the speed vehicles are traveling and the distance they require to brake, attempting to cross a highway is extremely dangerous and can lead to a catastrophic collision. Pedestrians needing to get from one side of a highway to the other should use designated crossings and sidewalks along overpasses and underpasses.”
