On Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014, at 5:10 a.m. the Pinal County Sheriff’s 9-1-1 Communications Center received a call from Mark Danielson, age 43, from Queen Creek, reporting he struck a male subject on West Combs Road, San Tan Valley.
When deputies arrived, they discovered Jared Paul Odane, age 16, from San Tan Valley, was deceased, lying on the south side of West Combs Road. They noticed he was wearing dark colored clothing and had ear buds in his ears.
Danielson reported to deputies that he was traveling eastbound on West Combs Road between 45 and 50 miles per hour when he heard a loud noise and his airbag deployed. After bringing his vehicle to a stop, he used the light from his cellular telephone and walked back to see what he had struck. After discovering he struck Jared he quickly called 9-1-1.
The fatal accident investigation was then turned over to PCSO’s Vehicular Crimes Unit. Their investigation revealed Jared was jogging eastbound on the fog line or one foot within the eastbound lane of West Combs Road when he was struck from behind by Danielson in his 1997 Ford Econoline Van.
Impairment does not appear to be a factor in the collision and Danielson is not facing criminal charges at this time.
Sheriff Paul Babeu stated, “San Tan Valley has grown to nearly 95,000 residents. Unfortunately, many of our roadways do not have street lights or sidewalks. According to his family, Jared was jogging along the normal path he routinely ran. Jared was jogging with the flow of traffic instead of against it so he could see vehicles approaching. Jared also was wearing headphones and probably never heard the vehicle coming. Joggers and pedestrians are reminded to travel in the opposite direction of traffic and wear light colored clothing so they can been seen. Our hearts and prayers go out to this young man’s family.”