A 52-year-old man suffered serious injuries early Friday afternoon when he appeared to run intentionally into the path of an 18-wheeler in the 600 block of Northeast Loop 286, Paris police chief Bob Hundley reported.
Paris Police, fire and EMS were dispatched to the scene in response to a report that a pedestrian had been struck by a semi-tractor trailer truck on the loop.
“Upon emergency services’ arrival, the individual was conscious and breathing but apparently had suffered internal injuries and broken bones from the collision with the truck,” Hundley said.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that this was not an accident but an attempt by the individual to do harm to himself. The driver of the truck saw the individual, a 52 year old male, running toward his truck’s path and braked while swerving from the outside lane to the inside lane to avoid collision. The individual actually ran into the rear duals of the tractor, bending a support bar and fender over the wheels,” the police chief added.
The driver was not injured, and no charges are being considered against him, Hundley said.
“The driver did a good job of trying to avoid the individual,” the police chief said.
Paris EMS transported the individual to a medical helicopter, which flew the individual to a trauma center. There was no update Saturday on the extent of his injuries or his condition.
Hundley said anvestigation is continuing into where the individual came from.
“It’s been reported he had been hospitalized the night before because of trying to harm himself. The individual was dressed in street clothing at the time of the incident,” the police chief said.
The northeast loop became quite congested as traffic was diverted around the investigation area until about 3 p.m. when all traffic lanes and service roads were back open.
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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