Pedestrian killed in Tuesday morning crash in E.L.; police investigating possible theft of his vehicle

EAST LANSING – Police were looking for information about a fatal car-pedestrian crash Tuesday morning and the possible theft of a vehicle that may or may not have been related.

The crash happened about 5:15 a.m. on West Road near Abbey Road.

A 38-year-old man who lived in the area was struck by a southbound vehicle and was dead at the scene, East Lansing police Lt. Chad Pride said.

The male driver stopped, tried to help the victim and called police, he said.

Investigators later determined that the crash victim's vehicle was missing from his residence and might have been stolen, he said. The vehicle is a gray, four-door Dodge RAM pickup truck with a business sign on the driver's door.

Police don't know why the man was in the road when the crash happened and did not believe the driver who hit him did anything wrong, Pride said. The roadway was "very dark," he said.

On Tuesday afternoon, police issued a news release mentioning the crash and the suspected vehicle theft but did not disclose that someone had died in the crash.

Pride released more information on Wednesday afternoon, saying investigators withheld details while they were trying to locate suspects in the suspected theft.

They'd like to hear from anyone who witnessed the crash or saw the Dodge truck between 4:45 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. Tuesday.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Adam Park at 319-6834 or email him at apark@elpolice.com

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Pedestrian killed in Tuesday morning crash in E.L.; police investigating possible theft of his vehicle