A man was struck and killed by a vehicle on Tucsonβs northeast side Wednesday night.
Just after 8:30 p.m., officers found Daniel Xavier Berjac, 48, at the intersection of North Craycroft Road and East Silver Street after responding to a report about a collision involving a 2020 Toyota Highlander and a pedestrian. Berjac was pronounced dead at the scene, Tucson police said.
Detectives determined Berjac was attempting to cross Craycroft in an unknown direction when the Toyota, which was traveling north in the median lane, struck him. Berjac was not in a crosswalk at the time of the crash, police said.
The driver of the Toyota immediately stopped and cooperated with the investigation. It was determined that the driver was not impaired.
Police said mid-block crossing by Berjac was the major contributing factor of the collision.
This is the first pedestrian fatality in Tucson for 2023, police reported.
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.
