SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - The Latest on a wreck that killed an Arizona police officer (all times local):
6:15 p.m.
Bond has been set at $100,000 for a Scottsdale man accused in the death of a Salt River police officer who was struck on a Phoenix-area freeway.
Authorities say 40-year-old Jerry Sanstead allegedly was texting before Tuesday evening’s crash on the Loop 101 freeway near Scottsdale.
Sanstead is jailed on suspicion of manslaughter, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and endangerment.
He didn’t have an attorney at his inital court appearance Wednesday.
A probable cause statement shows Sanstead told authorities that he was driving home from work and texting his wife about plans for the evening when the accident occurred.
Arizona Department of Public Safety officials say Salt River police Officer Clayton Townsend was struck as he stood in an emergency lane next to a vehicle he had pulled over on the freeway.
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8:45 a.m.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered that flags at all state buildings be lowered to half-staff Wednesday in honor of a police officer killed on a Phoenix-area freeway when struck by a vehicle driven by a man who allegedly was texting at the time.
Ducey said in a statement that “prayers and deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of Officer Clayton Townsend as well as to the men and women of the Salt River Police Department.”
The governor added that Arizona is grateful to the officer’s service and his willingness to put himself in harm’s way to keep others safe.
Townsend was killed Tuesday evening on the Loop 101 freeway near Scottsdale.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety identified the driver whose vehicle struck Townsend as 40-year-old Jerry Sanstead.
They say Sanstead was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and other crimes.
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7:20 a.m.
Authorities say the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a police officer on a Phoenix-area freeway was texting before the wreck and has been arrested.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety says 40-year-old Jerry Sanstead of Scottsdale told investigators that he was texting before his vehicle struck Salt River Police Department Officer Clayton Townsend as Townsend stood in the emergency lane next to another vehicle he’d pulled over Tuesday evening.
According to a DPS statement, a witness said the driver who struck Townsend was looking down at his phone and crossed two traffic lanes before the wreck.
Sanstead was jailed on suspicion of manslaughter, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and endangerment.
It’s not known whether Sanstead has an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
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6:50 a.m.
An Arizona police officer is dead after being struck by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop on a Phoenix-area freeway.
Officials said Salt River Police Department Officer Clayton Townsend was struck late Tuesday along the Loop 101 freeway while approaching a vehicle he had pulled over and that the vehicle that struck Townsend then struck the one Townsend pulled over.
Salt River Police Chief Karl Auerbach called Townsend compassionate and “truly a guardian of the people.”
Townsend was married and had a 10-month-old child. He had served five years on the Salt River Police Department, an agency of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said the driver of the vehicle that struck Townsend was taken to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.
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