A police officer who was conducting a DUI stop on a vehicle in Phoenix died after another vehicle hit him and then left the scene.
Police said on May 19 that the SUV hit 29-year-old Daryl Raetz at approximately 3:30 a.m. The vehicle that hit Raetz was described as either a Ford Expedition of Lincoln Navigator, model year 2004-2007.
"They had stopped a vehicle they were in the process of processing that motorist when one of our officers was struck by a northbound vehicle on 51st Avenue," said Sgt. Tommy Thompson with the Phoenix Police Dept according to AZfamily.com.
Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said investigators are currently working to identify the driver according to the Associated Press.
Raetz was standing in the road when the collision happened and was finishing up a standard DUI stop.
"The driver of the SUV fled the scene and remains at large," a spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement published on their website.
The officer was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died according to the Associated Press.
Raetz was an Iraq war veteran and worked as a Phoenix police officer for six years. He's survived by his wife and young daughter.
"I honestly don't have the words to describe the sorrow in my heart for Daryl Raetz and his family. He was one of Phoenix's finest. One of our heroes," said Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia according to AZfamily.com.
Silent Witness is offering a $5,000 reward in this case. Anyone with information can remain anonymous. Please call 1-480-948-5377 if you have any information regarding the hit-and-run.
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