Driver remained at scene, used CPR to try to revive victim

By Bert Etling, Ashland.news

A pedestrian died after stepping off the curb into the path of a west-bound vehicle on Ashland Street just west of YMCA Way shortly after 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30, according to police reports.

It was dark and raining at the time the pedestrian, who was wearing dark clothing, entered the roadway near the Sherwin-Williams paint store, according to Chief Tighe O’Meara of the Ashland Police Department. He said the driver attempted CPR on the victim, unsuccessfully.

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with emergency responders, including voluntarily submitting to screening for intoxicants. No evidence of intoxication was found.

The victim was an older man who lived nearby, according to O’Meara.

Ashland Street was closed from Clay Street to Tolman Creek Road for more than two hours while investigators from the Jackson County Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team surveyed the scene.

Names of the victim and driver had not yet been released as of Saturday morning.

Email Ashland.news Executive Editor Bert Etling at betling@ashland.news or call or text him at 541-631-1313.