Man Dies In Sparks Hit-And-Run Accident

Sparks police are searching for a car and driver that were involved in a Washoe County automobile accident. The accident happened just on the border of Reno and Sparks. The Sparks car crash killed a man and has been ruled authorities are ruling the accident a hit and run. Police found the man at the intersection of Kietzke Ln and Victorian Ave. The man who died in the accident, a Sparks resident who was aged 55, was found dead on the road just after 3:00 a.m. At first, the Sparks man’s name was not released but it wasl be once the man’s family were informed of his death. Police are saying that the man’s name was Eugene Shorthorn. Mr. Shorthorn was said to be a homeless person who was living in the area of the accident. When found by police, who were responding to a report of the man being down in the road, the Spark Resident had significant injuries to his head and torso. It is being assumed that the man who died was walking in the bike lane at the time of the accident. The investigation by Sparks police will determine if drugs, alcohol or other factors will be the reasons for the man’s death. Businesses in the vicinity of the crash have been canvassed for security camera footage and while Mr. Shorthorn’s death was not caught on camera, three vehicles were in the vicinity at the time of the accident. Three cars are being sought – a semi, a passenger car with a light color paint job and a pickup truck with a light color paint job.
Hit and run accidents in Northern Nevada vehicle collisions now come with the highest penalties in the United States. The new hit and run laws, passed in the last legislative session, came into effect on the first day of October. Now, when a driver leaves the scene of an accident where someone is injured they face up to 20 years in jail. The hit and run driver who causes an injury also is not eligible to be given probation for his sentence. Drivers are being informed of the new law by a new campaign from the Nevada department of transportation. The new public service announcements will implore drivers to call 911 and helping the injured person instead of fleeing. Nevada’s previous hit and run statute essentially incentivized drivers involved in an injury accident, who were intoxicated, to flee the scene, sober up and turn themselves into police. Now there is no incentive as the hit and run penalty and the penalty for injuring or killing someone while driving while intoxcated are the same.