JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A pedestrian was hit and killed by a police cruiser late Wednesday night on University Boulevard, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
Police identified the victim as Blane Stuart Land, 62, of Jacksonville.
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According to police, Land ran in front of the officer's cruiser on University between Phillips Highway and Cagle Road just before 11 p.m.
Land died overnight at UF Health Jacksonville, police said.
The driver of the police cruiser, JSO Officer T.L. James, was not injured. The 3-year veteran of the force has been placed on administrative leave while the crash is investigated.
The Sheriff's Office said James was responding to a robbery with injuries when he fatally struck Land and was driving behind a Jacksonville Fire Rescue truck on University Boulevard West.
Police said Land ran from a Burger King in front of the firetruck. He made it to the center travel lane, and once the firetruck passed, he darted back toward Burger King, right into the path of the police car, investigators said.
Police said James was not the primary officer responding to the robbery, so he did not have his emergency lights and sirens on. Investigators said the officer was driving the speed limit.
All lanes of West University Boulevard between Philips Highway and Cagle Road were closed much of the night during the investigation.
It was the second deadly deadly crash involving a JSO cruiser in fewer than two weeks. On May 1, police said, Derrick Woolbright, 57, was riding a bicycle on Moncrief Road when he was fatally struck by a JSO cruiser.