JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man was struck and killed on Friday night after he “darted across” the path of two Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SUVs that were headed to the Mandarin High School football game to help with security, police said.
The crash was reported just before 9:45 p.m. on Old St. Augustine Road, less than half a mile north of Greenland Road/Loretto Road, JSO said.
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According to police, the officers were headed south on Old St. Augustine Road, both in marked SUVs, one behind the other in the inside lane, when a man in his late 40s “darted across” the road from their right.
The first officer swerved left, but couldn’t avoid hitting the man with the right front of his SUV, JSO said.
Both officers stopped and tried to help the man until Jacksonville Fire and Rescue arrived. Paramedics rushed the man to a local hospital, where he died shortly after he arrived, police said.
The officer who struck the man will be placed on administrative leave, per JSO policy, while the incident is reviewed.
The crash shut down Old St. Augustine Road in both directions at Loretto Road, but lanes have since reopened.
JSO said this marks the 117th traffic fatality in Duval County in 2025, and the 23rd involving a pedestrian.