Steve Warren, 22, was hit by a car at Valentine and Ashlan avenues around 4:20 a.m. Fresno police say Warren was wearing dark clothes, and the sun had not come up yet. Witnesses say he was sitting with his legs crossed in the middle of the street when he was struck and killed.
"The initial investigation showed that at least one car was able to drive around the man sitting in the roadway, and that car turned around, called 911, and was attempting to drive back to the man's location in order to wave off any oncoming traffic," said Bruce Owen with the Fresno Police Department.
But before that driver made it back to Warren, a southbound motorist who did not see him hit him.
On Friday morning, the Collision Reconstruction Unit spent hours collecting evidence at the scene. Traffic was also diverted while investigators diagramed the area. Officers are trying to figure out why Warren was in the street and what his mindset was at the time.
"At this point our CRU detectives are investigating where the man had been," said Owen. "The coroner's office will be running toxicology tests to determine if there's any kinds of drugs or alcohol on board, and just try to piece together what brought this man to be sitting in the roadway before he was struck."
Family members declined to talk about Warren on camera, or the current circumstances in his life. Investigators say so far, it appears the driver who hit Warren was obeying all traffic laws at the time of the accident.
