Woman Pronounced Dead After Being Run Over Police Car; Cause Of Death Unknown
Mar 6, 2019, 5:37 AM | Updated: 6:40 am
MILLCREEK, Utah – A woman was pronounced dead Tuesday night after an officer accidentally ran over her while she was lying down in a parking lot.
It hasn’t yet been determined if the victim was intoxicated, injured or even deceased before being hit. The woman was reportedly dressed in dark clothing.
Unified Police Department Det. Ken Hansen said an officer was responding to a welfare check of a person lying in a parking lot in the area of 2300 East and 3300 South just after 11 p.m. While conducting the check, the officer reportedly hit the woman.
Attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.
Police have identified her as a 25-year-old woman from Georgia who has been reportedly sleeping in her car in different parking lots in the past week. Her name has not yet been released.
“It’s not clear why (the woman was) there,” Hansen said. “We have to determine how they got there and why they were lying in a parking lot in the middle of the night.”
“We do believe it’s a tragic accident,” Hansen said. “The officer just pulls in, looking for someone, doesn’t see someone in an unexpected area dressed in dark clothes, and hits that person.”
The UPD vehicle was towed away as evidence, and the woman’s body has been transported to the medical examiner’s office. The officer has been put on paid administrative leave.
The Salt Lake City Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office will be handling the investigation.
