CEDAR CITY — Officers arrested a Cedar City man Thursday evening after he allegedly hit a pedestrian with his vehicle and left him in critical condition.
Around 8 p.m., the Cedar Communications Center received a report that there was a dog, deer or possibly a man lying in the middle of the road near Smith’s Grocery Store, according to a report by Cedar Police Officer Michael Maxwell.
The caller, who was later identified as Cedar City resident Nicholas Stroman, 22, was asked to return to the scene of the accident and wait for police officer but Stroman declined.
Shortly after, a man was found lying in the middle of the road at 1288 S. Main St. by Comfort Inn after having been hit by a vehicle, according to Maxwell’s report.
The man was transported first by ground ambulance to Valley View Medical Center, then as a result of his critical condition, was transported by Life Flight to Dixie Regional Medical in St. George.
Cedar City Police found Stroman at the Southern Utah University dorms and were able to talk with him and check his vehicle.
“There were still traces of (the victim’s) red jacket on the vehicle,” Maxwell wrote.
After Stroman was read his Miranda rights at the Cedar City Police Department, he stated that he knew he had hit something but wasn’t sure what it was.
According to the report, “Nicholas stated that he did stop after the accident before calling 911 but claimed he did not see what he had hit.”
However, Stroman allegedly admitted to suspecting that he “could have hit a person” when calling dispatch, leading investigators to believe Stroman “had suspected that he had been in an accident that might have caused injury to a man.”
Stroman was arrested and booked into the Iron County Correctional Facility. He was charged with a third-degree felony due to the injury the victim sustained in the accident. According to bookings information Stroman’s bail currently stands at $2,500.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
Not that it justifies the driver leaving the scene, but was the victim thought to be hit in a crosswalk with right to cross or was he jaywalking?
You leave a pedestrian in critical condition on the road- you get arrested…that makes sense. You leave a baby in a car and it dies and you don’t get arrested….that doesn’t make sense.
I wonder if Mr. Stroman’s cell phone will show he was distracted when the “accident” occurred?
Well it’s a good thing he didn’t strike someone’s pet dog or a feral cat or people would really be upset with him. Southern Utah people are more considerate toward animals than they are for other people.
But once they find out he’s black, they will be outraged.