AURORA, Colo. — A pedestrian and two dogs were killed in a hit-and-run crash on southbound Reservoir Road in Aurora. The southbound lanes were closed for several hours for the investigation.
APD responded to the crash on Reservoir Road near Hampden Avenue around 2:50 a.m. When officers arrived, they found a man and two dogs lying in the grass nearby.
In video from AirTracker7, it appeared the vehicle had gone off the side of the road and into the bus stop.
APD later confirmed a Toyota Sequoia was headed southbound on Reservoir Road, left the roadway, hit the man and two dogs and then veered back onto Reservoir Road before the driver ditched the vehicle in the center of the road.
On Friday, police confirmed investigators were looking for the registered owner of the vehicle and said the vehicle had not been reported stolen.
Neighbors say that stretch of roadway that changes from Tower Road to Reservoir Road is extremely dangerous.
“There’s a lot of racing up Tower/Reservoir Road, especially late at night,” said Danielle Shelby as she was walking her dogs.
“It’s extremely dangerous to walk exactly where that gentleman was walking because that’s right where it curves,” said neighbor Kim Moline. “And I will not even walk our dog there.”
“How - as a human being - do you hit a person and their two dogs and just leave?” said neighbor Dirza Dittberner. "My heart just breaks for him. And I just saw him a few nights ago walking his dogs and thought, that's so nice that he takes them out late at night."
“These days, people aren’t learning things like responsibility,” said Derek Parks, whose mom lives in the area. “It seems like you can do whatever and it’s okay. A lot of things are just escaping from core values and principles that we’ve held dear.”
The pedestrian, who friends identified as 41-year-old Jason Lyman, and both dogs, Buster and Daki, were killed in the crash, according to Aurora police. The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office will identify the victim once family has been notified. A GoFundMe has been created to help Lyman's family.
The driver of the Sequoia, who has only been identified as a man, left the scene on foot before officers arrived.
The southbound lanes of Reservoir Road are closed at Mansfield Avenue. There’s no ETA on when it will reopen.
A bus stop, electrical box and multiple signs were also hit in the crash.
Anyone with information on the crash, including dash camera video or the identity of the driver, is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
This is the 26th traffic-related death of 2022 in Aurora.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
