By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
LINCOLN PARK — A man trying to cross Southfield Road on foot Sunday night was struck by a van and died soon after at Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn.
According to police reports, Phillip A. Johnson, 58, began crossing Southfield at River Drive near the Ecorse bridge about 10:20 p.m. He stepped in front of a 1996 Dodge Caravan traveling west on Southfield.
The driver, a 27-year-old Southgate resident, called police immediately, awaited their arrival and voluntarily took a preliminary breath test that proved negative.
According to police reports, alcohol was not believed to have been a factor, and expect that the Downriver Crash Investigation Team and Michigan State Police will confirm that the driver was not distracted or speeding.
However, a final report must be reviewed by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office before criminal charges are filed or the incident was, according to a Lincoln Park Police statement, “just a tragic accident.”
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected])