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KANAB — A southern Utah police chief was involved in an auto-pedestrian crash last month that left one man seriously injured, the Utah Highway Patrol confirmed.
Kanab Police Chief Tom Cram was driving his city-owned F-150 police vehicle on Nov. 18 when he hit a 58-year-old man just before 8:30 a.m., UHP Lt. Cameron Roden told KSL-TV.
The incident happened at the intersection of 300 South and 100 East in Kanab. Roden said Cram was turning onto 300 South when he hit the pedestrian crossing the street in a crosswalk.
According to Roden, Cram said he didn't see the pedestrian as he turned into the sunlight. Roden said the man's injuries "looked real severe," and he was taken to the hospital with moderate to serious injuries.
Roden said there is no indication the pedestrian was doing anything wrong when he was hit.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Cram told KSL-TV he "can't really make a statement at this time" about what happened. He confirmed he remains on duty as Kanab's police chief and has not been placed on leave.
UHP forwarded the case to the Kane County Attorney's Office, which determined that this was not an officer-involved critical incident. The case then went to the Kanab City Attorney's Office, which declined to review it due to a conflict of interest and requested that an outside agency — the Garfield County Attorney's Office — take it and decide whether charges will be filed.
No one from the Garfield County Attorney's Office responded to a request for comment Wednesday about the status of the case.
