Driver who hit, killed Boise man jaywalking on Vista won’t be charged

A Boise driver who struck a man walking across Vista Avenue on a stormy night last October won’t face any charges in connection with the fatal crash, a Boise police spokeswoman told the Statesman.

Sam Willie Jr., 58, of Boise, died at a local hospital on the night of the crash, Oct. 24, 2018. The collision was reported at 8:52 p.m.

The conditions were described as “dark, cloudy and pouring down rain” in the Idaho Transportation Department’s crash report.

Willie was carrying a grocery bag in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in the other, according to police and ITD reports. It’s unclear whether the bottle was open because it broke when he was struck, Boise Police Department spokeswoman Haley Williams told the Statesman.

He was walking west to east across Vista about 20 feet north of the crosswalk at the intersection with West Targee Street. He’d made it across four vehicle lanes and was hit in the fifth lane — the northbound, curbside lane.

The drivers of two cars at that intersection say they proceeded through a green light just before the collision, and the pedestrian signal was flashing a don’t-cross symbol.

A 41-year-old woman in a 2000 white Isuzu Amigo was driving north in the curbside lane on Vista. She told investigators that she saw the car in the lane to the left of her brake suddenly — but she couldn’t see why until Willie stepped in front of her car. She said she was unable to avoid hitting him.

The ITD crash report, which is preliminary, listed several possible contributing factors to the crash: Willie not obeying a crossing signal and possibly impaired by alcohol, and the driver’s view of him blocked by another moving vehicle.

Investigators put the driver of the Amigo through a field sobriety test and did not detect that she was impaired, the ITD report shows.

Willie was found to have alcohol in his system, but his blood was not tested due to transfusions, according to Ada County Coroner Dotti Owens. She said his blood-alcohol content was estimated at .08 via vitreous testing (fluid in eyes).

This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 4:22 PM.