One man has died, and three were injured in a car crash on Tucson’s south side Feb. 6.
James Vernon Ammons, 61, died Saturday from injuries he sustained in the collision, Tucson police said.
On Feb. 6 just before 10:30 p.m., officers arrived at the intersection of South Park Avenue and East Drexel Road for a report of a collision involving two passenger vehicles.
Upon arriving, police learned that Ammons and two other occupants of a white 1984 GMC pickup were ejected from the vehicle and found in the roadway. The driver of the other involved vehicle, a 2012 Infiniti sedan, had fled the scene on foot, police said.
All three occupants of the pickup were taken to Banner University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, police said.
The two additional occupants in the pickup were identified as a man and woman in their 50s.
The driver of the Infiniti, Michael Aaron Roman, 41, was found hiding nearby and taken to Banner UMC with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Detectives determined that Roman was traveling northbound on Park Avenue well above the posted speed limit and failed to stop for a red light, striking the pickup. Witnesses saw Roman exit the Infiniti and flee the scene, police said.
It was determined that Roman was impaired at the time of the crash, police said.
According to evidence at the scene, none of the occupants in the two involved vehicles were wearing seatbelts, police said. Because of the medical condition of the three occupants from the pickup, it is unknown who was driving at the time of the crash.
Excessive speed, failure to stop for a red light and impaired driving are the known contributing factors in the crash, police said.
Roman was booked into the Pima County jail for multiple felonies and charged on suspicion of second-degree murder, police said.
The investigation is ongoing.
