Transient run over in crosswalk by pickup

COEUR d'ALENE - A 54-year-old transient known to frequent the Coeur d'Alene area was run over by a pickup truck Saturday afternoon at the intersection of Harrison Avenue and Fourth Street, police said.

Zachary Palmer suffered undisclosed injuries and was taken from the scene in an ambulance.

Lt. Rob Turner with the Coeur d'Alene Police Department said Palmer suffered at least a leg injury. Palmer was alert and talking at the scene, and was taken to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene, Turner said.

A supervisor at the hospital said Palmer was treated and released.

The driver of the pickup, 59-year-old Janet Ackerman of Coeur d'Alene, was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, Turner said.

Ackerman, who was driving a gray Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck with an extended cab, was headed northbound on Fourth Street around 1 p.m. and turned left onto Harrison Avenue to drive west.

She turned into and struck Palmer as he was walking north on Fourth Street and crossing Harrison.

An employee of Liberty Tire, who was interviewed as a witness by police, said Palmer was run over by the front tire on the driver's side. The witness said he was standing in front of the tire store smoking a cigarette when the incident occurred.

The employee, who declined to give his name, said Palmer tried to get up after being run over. Other people near the incident told Palmer to stay down until emergency medical help arrived.

The employee said the truck was driving slow as it struck Palmer.

Personnel from the police department and the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department responded to the scene.

Traffic on Harrison Avenue was stopped as emergency personnel worked to get Palmer into the ambulance. Fourth Street was reduced to one lane of traffic near the intersection.