On Saturday March 24, 2018 at approximately 4:30 p.m., the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office was advised of a pedestrian versus vehicle accident on Highway 80 near Plantation Road west of Douglas. The initial call indicated that a United States Border Patrol Agent had been struck by a vehicle on Highway 80 while he was out of his vehicle.
Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the scene along with Arizona Department of Public Safety Troopers, Douglas Police Department and Douglas Fire Medical personnel where a vehicle was located stopped in the right eastbound lane of the Highway. A male subject wearing a US Border Patrol uniform was just off of the roadway and required immediate medical treatment.
The initial investigation indicates that the Border Patrol agent was northbound on Plantation Road while on an all terrain vehicle when approaching a cattleguard almost at Highway 80. There was damage to a marker sign next to the cattle guard and it appears the agent may have collided with the marker before being thrown onto the edge of the eastbound lane of travel on the highway. There was a vehicle travelling at the speed limit in the eastbound lane which apparently struck the agent as he was standing up, throwing him some distance from the impact area.
The agent was airlifted to a Tucson hospital for treatment of his injuries and remains there in stable condition.