Window Cleaner Vs Truck Vs Bullets

St. George Police officers respond to a vehicle-versus-window cleaner accident at a Maverik gas station, St. George, Utah, 

Man hit by truck, injured while washing windows at gas station (St. George, Utah) – A man was taken to the hospital, and officers are still trying to piece together exactly what happened following a vehicle-versus-person accident at a Maverik gas station in St. George Tuesday evening. Shortly before 6:30 p.m., emergency responders were dispatched on reports of an accident in the Maverik gas station at 1860 W. Sunset Blvd. “We’re still trying to figure out what happened,” St. George Police Sgt. Wade Johnson said.

From what officers have been able to deduce so far, Johnson said, a man in a Budget rental box truck was parked at a gas pump washing the windows. Somehow, the man ended up being struck by a red pickup truck that was driving around the front of the box truck. “I think the (man washing the window) took a step back into the path of the truck’s rear tire,” Johnson said. “I’m not a hundred percent sure on that because we haven’t had a chance to talk to the victim,” he added.

The incident occurred at a time of day when the sun was low in the sky, potentially causing visibility issues. “I think the guy (in the pickup) just didn’t see him,” Johnson said. The man who was hit was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George for observation. At the time of this publication, Johnson said he did not know the extent of the man’s injuries. “It looked like his leg got hit,” Johnson said, “and I’m not sure on anything else.”

Officers went to the hospital to try and speak with the man who was hit, but he was undergoing tests at that time. “We were not able to get in there and talk to him,” Johnson said. Though the full scope of what happened has not yet been established, Johnson said it appears this was just an unfortunate accident, and no citations will be given to either party. “We couldn’t see that anybody was negligent or committed any violations, and so we’re not going to issue any citations,” he said.

The man hit was the only person injured in the incident, though the man driving the pickup truck was visibly shaken afterward. “He was very, very shaken up,” Johnson said, “and rightfully so.” In addition to the St. George Police Department, the St. George Fire Department and Gold Cross Ambulance responded to the scene. Gold Cross transported the injured man to the hospital.

Window cleaner, Ian Simonsen was having a snooze in his car when it was shot twice.

Being shot at is all in a day's work (New Zealand): Ian Simonsen is taking being shot at in his stride. The 64-year-old was abruptly woken from his roadside nap to the noise of shots entering the back of his car. He brushed it off and drove home, not realising until the next day what the sound really was. "I thought it might have been water from an irrigation sprinkler, I just didn't worry about it at all."

Mr Simonsen is the owner of commercial cleaning company Te Mata Services (Translation in Spanish - It/he kills you!). Due to the erratic working hours, he often pulls over for a cat-nap. He has done this for the past 20 years without incident. That all changed last Friday night. He stopped on the Hawke's Bay expressway near the Links Rd intersection after he felt himself nodding off. He chose a brightly lit area to park and even thought to himself , "I'll be safe here."

About 11.30pm, two shots - believed to be from a .22 rifle, smashed through the back window and a back panel, just centimetres from where he lay. "I can't feel lucky because I was totally ignorant to what happened." "Everyone seems to be taking it very seriously, though," he said. "I wasn't hurt so how can I really be upset?"

Police are puzzled by the shots. They do not know who fired them or why. "He was lucky he wasn't seriously injured," Detective Sergeant Jason Crowe said. The shots could have been fired by someone hunting possums or rabbits, Mr Crowe said: "It was an unusual event."

Mr Simonsen harbours no ill feelings towards whoever it was that pulled the trigger. He believes the shooter thought the car was abandoned and must have got the "fright of his life" when it started to be driven away. As a "clean Christian," Mr Simonsen said he did not have an enemy in the world.

A police officer suggested Mr Simonsen buy a Lotto ticket, to which he replied: "It was God looking after me." He said he did hope the person responsible came forward even if it was just to receive a "whack" around the backside. Mr Crowe urged those responsible for Friday's incident to contact police.