A pedestrian who was helping authorities move horses out of the roadway east of Douglass was killed at the scene late Thursday night by a passenger vehicle.
According to a news release from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office Friday morning, the man was identified as 61-year-old John Sanford of rural Douglass.
At approximately 10:38 p.m., a Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy was dispatched for a report of horses in the roadway on SW 210th Street in the area of SW Hopkins Switch Road in rural Douglass.
While the deputy was on the way, Butler County 911 started calling potential horse owners in the area. They were unsuccessful in locating the owners but one of the people contacted by dispatch also started calling local horse owners in the vicinity and contacted Sanford.
Sanford and his wife came to the scene and found that the horses did not belong to them, but Sanford began helping to remove them from the roadway.
A westbound passenger vehicle struck Sanford on SW 210th Street.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Preliminary investigation indicates that bright lighting from another vehicle parked on the side of the road, facing east, may have contributed.
