Pedestrian killed in crash near courthouse

Witness saw EMTs trying to save life of man struck by car in St. Johns County

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A man died Wednesday morning after he was struck by a car on U.S. 1 near the St. Johns County Courthouse, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

The crash happened on U.S. 1 North near Lewis Speedway about 8:45 a.m. and the victim was taken to Flagler Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died at the hospital.

A man who witnessed the aftermath of the crash said he had been holding on to hope that the victim would survive.

"I was really concerned, because I care and I'm worried and I don't know who it is, but it's how I started my day and that wasn't a good start," Scott Senecal said.

Senecal said he pulled up on the accident about 5 minutes after it happened and saw the man on the side of the road with emergency workers hovering over him, trying to save his life with CPR.

"I cried. I'm human, and I love people and there's nothing you can do about it, but that's how it goes sometimes, you know?" Senecal said.

The driver who hit the pedestrian stopped and is being interviewed by deputies, who are investigating the cause of the crash. Charges are pending.

According to Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan, with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, investigators will be bringing in high-tech mapping equipment to help determine exactly how the accident took place.

"We'll have a scanner in the road. It's a 3D graphic imaging with GPS coordinates system," Mulligan said. "We'll be able to reconstruct the entire scene, every part and piece of every mechanism involved in the crash in the computer so we have it for historical purposes. Right now, it's too soon to know exactly where everybody was, but that's what they're working diligently on."