Police on Monday said that alcohol is suspected in a weekend crash that killed a man.
Boback "Bobby" Pourfarhadi was with friends when he was struck by a Minerva Park police cruiser,just south of Minerva Lake Road, at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, 10TV's Tanisha Mallett reported.
Officer Jason Gross, 34, was the officer driving the cruiser at the time of the crash, accordingto a press release issued by the Columbus Division of Police.
SLIDESHOW: Images Of Victim, Scene
According to police, Pourfarhadi, 25, was walking and fell on the roadway when the cruiser thatwas traveling south along Westerville Road accidentally ran him over.
Witnesses disupte that statement from police. Jason Delauder, who was with Pourfarhadi at thetime, said he stopped at the shoulder of the road to fix his sneaker when he was struck, Mallettreported.
"I heard the car coming because he was coming down through there and I said, 'Bobby, hurry upand get up,' and he was getting up and it was that fast," Delauder said.
Pourfarhadi was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said that alcohol was suspected onPourfarhadi as a contributing factor at the time of the crash.
An autopsy was scheduled on Pourfarhadi on Monday, Mallett reported.
His father, Mehrdad Pourfarhadi, told 10TV News that he was in West Virginia when he wasinformed that his son was killed in an accident. Only after returning to Columbus did MehrdadPourfarhadi learn from the media that a police officer was driving the vehicle that struck hisson.
"They never said it was a police cruiser involved, or any detail whatsoever," MehrdadPourfarhadi said.
Mehrdad Pourfarhadi said he was upset no one from the Minerva Park police department spoke tohim about his son's death.
"I will get to the bottom of this," Mehrdad Pourfarhadi said. "It doesn't matter how much moneyit costs, I will get to the bottom of this."
Gross was placed on paid leave pending an investigation, according to Jim Gilbert, president ofthe Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9.
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