NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) - Police are trying to figure out what led to a pedestrian being struck and killed on East High Avenue Wednesday afternoon. 

New Philadelphia Police Chief Mike Goodwin says officers responded to the Shel Mar Drive and East High Avenue intersection for reports of a man struck by a vehicle about 1:10 pm. He says the call came in right around the time storms were rolling through the area.

“It was our understanding that at the time of the crash there was a heavy downpour of rain, so whether some visibility on the pedestrian's part or the driver’s part was hampered because of that, we don’t know,” he says. 

Goodwin says they are recruiting the help of the State Highway Patrol to recreate the scenario and give them a better understanding of exactly what took place.

“There was an individual that was crossing East High Avenue, to our understanding, kind of south across East High Avenue towards the Shel Mar area and was struck by a vehicle that was eastbound,” he says. 

Goodwin says the pedestrian was a 76-year-old Perry Township man. He was transported to Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital where he later died from his injuries. 

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