Arron Healy (FOX5)
Arron Healy (FOX5)LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
A motorist who pulled over and tried to save a dog on Boulder Highway was struck by a car and pronounced dead at Sunrise Hospital.
That's according to Las Vegas Metro police, who said the victim -- 57-year-old Valerie Marie Roberts -- had activated her hazard lights when she got out of her PT Cruiser on Boulder Highway near Tropicana Avenue just after 10 p.m. Wednesday.
As Roberts tried to help a dog that had been struck by another vehicle, she was hit by a Dodge Charger, police said.
"Of course, it's an animal, you want to render aid, but it's not worth putting your own life at risk," said Metro Det. Richard Tusko. "As far as rendering aid to a pet or a dog, it's best to stay out of the roadway for this exact reason."
The driver of the Dodge Charger was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Tusko added.
Wednesday's accident was the 58th traffic-related fatality in Metro's jurisdiction this year, and the second on Boulder Highway in 24 hours, following the death of a motorcyclist earlier that day.
"We do get a high volume of fatal calls on Boulder Highway, pedestrian as well as vehicular," Tusko said. "A lot of them due to jaywalking. This isn't a very common call, someone who stopped in the roadway to render aid to a dog."
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