A man suspected of driving a car carrying migrants near Sierra Vista was struck and killed by a passing car Sunday night as he fought a deputy along a highway, officials say.
The incident started about 10 p.m. when a deputy with the Cochise County Sheriffs Office stopped a vehicle on Arizona 92 south of the city, an agency news release says.
The driver was found to be smuggling migrants and he fought with the deputy who was trying to put him in handcuffs, the news release said.
During the struggle, a passing car narrowly missed the deputy but struck the driver.
The man was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead, the release said.
The deputy was not injured.
The driver of the car that struck the man fled. The car described only as a light or sliver-colored sedan has front-end damage, the release said.
“The vehicle stopped by our deputy was involved with smuggling of migrants that entered the country illegally and were discovered in the trunk. Fentanyl was located near the vehicle which was stopped," Sheriff Mark Dannels said Monday in a written statement. "Sadly, a new normal for our communities and law enforcement."
Close to 43,000 people died in a traffic crash in 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That's up from about 39,000 deaths in 2020.
