Published: July 01, 2008 09:54 am         

Mineral Wells man killed on Hwy. 281

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

PALO PINTO COUNTY - A 35-year-old man died early Sunday morning on U.S. Highway 281 South after a tractor-trailer rig struck him, officials said.

Authorities were first alerted of an individual on the highway after a driver called the Palo Pinto County Sheriff's Office, said Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer.

The driver of a pickup contacted authorities shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday and reported “a man ran out in front of him [and] he barely missed him,” Mercer said. “We got a second call of a trucker who advised nine minutes later that he hit a man. Deputies were en route when we got the second call.”

According to Texas Department of Public Safety reports, the collision occurred 2.8 miles south of Mineral Wells on U.S. 281 South, between Oaks Crossing Road and Village Bend Road.

DPS officials reported a trucker operating a 2007 Mack tractor-trailer rig was southbound when he struck a man later identified as Timothy Daniel Hill, of Mineral Wells. Hill was declared dead at the scene at 3:37 a.m. His body was sent to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

The case is still under investigation, DPS officials reported. The tractor-trailer's driver, a 66-year-old man from Stephenville, was not issued a citation.