PEDESTRIAN HIT

2/27/25

A Salem Police Officer accidentally hit a pedestrian, Tuesday night, who stepped across the white line into the lane of traffic on West Main Street according to Salem Deputy Police Chief Tyler Rose.

Rose says the area is not lit and there is no sidewalk.  The female pedestrian, later identified as 41-year-old Katie Davita-Gaudet, of Sandoval was wearing all-black clothing and walking east when the incident occurred.  She was struck in the arm by the passenger side mirror of the patrol car.

EMS was called to the scene to check the female.  The Salem officer immediately turned around to check for injuries. 

Rose says the dash cam of the patrol car was activated and captured the point of impact with the pedestrian.  The video shows that, due to no street lighting in this area, the officer had less than one second from when the female came into his headlights until the point of impact.  Rose says thankfully the female did not appear to have major injuries.  However, she was transported to the hospital for further evaluation.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Department is handling the crash.