Man dies after being run over at the corner of Howard and First

A man died after being run over by a car in downtown Spokane on Saturday in what police believe was a parking accident.

A gray sedan reversed over a curb and crashed at about 10:45 a.m. into the front of the Columbia James S. Black building at Howard Street and First Avenue, running over a man in the process.

The man, whose name has not been released, had apparently been in the vehicle but had exited. The woman driving the car was a relative, police said.

Spokane Police Cpl. Dave Adams said that Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer, who was not on duty at the time, was the first responder to the scene. The victim was pinned under the car and suffered head injuries, said Adams, who was the second responder.

Additional medical personnel arrived and the man was extricated from under the sedan. He was transported to a hospital where he died, Adams said.

The driver was at the scene and was distraught, Adams said. She did not appear to speak English. She also was transported to a hospital. Impairment from drugs and alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the crash, Adams said.

Witnesses told police the man was outside the vehicle and may have been attempting to direct it into a parking spot. The incident is now being treated as a noncriminal event, Adams said.

The identity of the victim and the cause of death will be released by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office. The intersection remained closed for several hours as the investigation continued.

Police ask that anyone who witnessed the event and has not given an account to law enforcement to contact Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.