Harnett County police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 38-year-old Sanford man this week after he was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash only days ago. And while police believe that alcohol may have been a factor, a lack of witnesses has left police with nothing but a lot of unanswered questions.
The man’s death came only a few hours before Memorial Day in Harnett County. According to the man’s girlfriend, the man had been drinking heavily and had gotten out of control. She says she called deputies to her residence and asked them to take him into custody to ensure his safety. But because he hadn’t done anything wrong, police refused her requests. She believes accepting her request could have saved his life.
Investigators believe that after leaving his girlfriend’s house, he began walking down the middle of Ponderosa Road, just north of Highway 27. But while walking in the middle of the road, he was struck by a vehicle then dragged several feet. It’s not clear at this time whether the driver knew if they had hit a person or not, or whether they were aware that the man’s body was being dragged beneath the vehicle. It’s questions like this that have the man’s girlfriend asking how someone could live with themselves, knowing that they had killed someone.
Despite having questioned an 18-year-old man recently about the hit-and-run crash, no arrests have been made in the case. And with no witnesses, investigators are relying heavily on the public, or the guilty driver, to come forward with information that will help them answer so many unanswered questions.
Source: WRAL News, “Man killed in Harnett County hit-and-run crash,” Sloane Heffernan, May 28, 2013
