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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said a JSO officer swerved when he saw the man running across the road, but was “unable to avoid” striking him.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man died Friday night after a Jacksonville sheriff’s officer in a police SUV struck him while he “darted” across Old St. Augustine Road, according to the sheriff’s office.
Commander Shelton with JSO said the crash happened around 9:44 p.m. in the 11500 block of Old St. Augustine Road.
Shelton said two JSO officers were driving to Mandarin High School to assist with security for the football game. He said the officers were both in the inside southbound lane on Old St. Augustine Road in separate Ford SUVs, one behind another.
According to Shelton, a man in his late-40s “darted” across the road into the path of the officers’ vehicles. Shelton said the first officer swerved left, but was “unable to avoid striking the man with the front right of his vehicle.”
Both officers stopped on scene and rendered aid to the man until members of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department arrived, Shelton said. The man was then taken to a local hospital where he died shortly after arriving, Shelton said.
Shelton further told First Coast News that the officer whose vehicle hit the man will be placed on administrative leave in accordance with JSO policy while the incident is reviewed, and that JSO’s traffic homicide and crime scene units will investigate the crash.
This crash marks as the 117th traffic fatality in Duval County in 2025, and the 23rd involving a pedestrian, according to JSO.