TAMPA, Fla. -- A pedestrian was hit and killed by an off-duty member of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday morning.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, a 39-year-old detention deputy was on his way to work at the Orient Road Jail. The detention corporal was driving westbound with his personal vehicle along the 800 block of West Wheeler Road in Brandon around 6 a.m. when he thought he hit a garbage can, deputies said.
The detention corporal immediately stopped, exited his vehicle and called HCSO's dispatchers. He told dispatchers he saw garbage cans knocked over and saw no other signs of property damage.
"He pulled over and got out of the car to assess the damage, but all he found at that time were garbage cans he thought he hit," said Crystal Clark with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
About 30 minutes after the detention corporal called dispatchers, another person called 911 to report a man down on the side of the road.
When deputies arrived on scene, they found the body of a 54-year-old man. HCSO later determined that the detention corporal hit the man as he was standing near the garbage cans.
HCSO said it is unclear if the pedestrian was in the roadway at the time of the crash.
"The victim was found several feet off from the roadway, away from one of the trash cans," said Clark.
The detention corporal is not facing any charges or administration action, as the incident happened while he was off-duty, HCSO said. The State Attorney's Office is reviewing this incident.
"At this time, there are no criminal charges because he did in fact stop at that accident and get out of the car to see what he hit. We are looking into exactly what led up to this crash," said Clark.
The detention corporal has been with HCSO since 2004.
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