Pedestrian hit by JSO cruiser dies

The Florida Highway Patrol said a pedestrian struck by a Jacksonville police cruiser on a Northside road Wednesday morning has died.

Troopers said Alain Martin, a 33-year-old truck driver from Hialeah, had just gotten out of his tractor-trailer along Eastport Road when he was struck by a patrol car headed to an emergency call.

The FHP says Officer Chuck Reagor was responding to an accident with injuries with his emergency lights on just after 10 a.m. when the trucker walked out from behind his big rig parked along Eastport Road between Main Street and Emuness Road when he stepped into the road.

"The officer took evasive action when he saw the pedestrian," FHP Capt. Keith Gaston said. "He steered to the right, and that took the car over into the fence."

Martin was taken to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. The officer, a 23-year veteran of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, was not injured.

While troopers confirmed the cruiser had its emergency lights on, Gaston said it wasn't yet known if the siren was on. The FHP report says charges are possible pending further investigation.

Eastport Road was closed for more than two hours.