Police ID Man Killed By Patrol Car on Dallas Bridge

By Bill Miller, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Jun. 1–Police have identified the Dallas man who died early Wednesday when a police car struck him as he tried to cross a darkened viaduct near downtown Dallas.

Xavier Hicks, 43, was the victim of the accident that occurred about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday on the Corinth Street Viaduct near South Industrial Boulevard, police said Thursday.

Senior Cpl. Donna Hernandez, a Dallas police spokeswoman, said Hicks was reportedly trying to cross the road, from west to east, when he was struck by a patrol car driven by Senior Cpl. Kenneth Strauss, a 15-year veteran of the department.

Strauss was northbound on the viaduct, which spans the Trinity River, just southwest of the downtown area. Officials said he was going to help other officers work an accident scene, but there was no urgency and he was traveling without sirens or lights, they said.

The officer apparently did not see Hicks on the bridge, which was quite dim because of poor lighting in the area, Hernandez said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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