On Wednesday, March 15th, 2015 at 12:05 a.m., the Pinal County Sheriff’s 9-1-1 Communications Center received a call regarding a vehicle vs. pedestrian accident with injuries near Highway 60 and Kings Ranch Road, Gold Canyon.
Deputies were sent to investigate the accident and arrived within minutes. They located a male subject lying in the middle of the northbound lane of traffic on Kings Ranch Road just north of Sunrise Sky Drive. The male appeared to have severe head trauma and was pronounced deceased at the scene. He was later identified as Howard Fabian, age 45 of Gold Canyon. His family was notified of his death.
The driver of the Chevy Kobalt was identified as Tucker Bascom, age 22 of Gold Canyon. With Tucker in the vehicle at the time of the crash was an adult female. Both Tucker and his passenger reported that while they were traveling northbound on Kings Ranch Road, they saw a male subject walking on the eastside of the road. Without warning, the male subject quickly stepped out into the roadway and in front of their vehicle. They did not have time to react and hit the subject. After hitting the subject, they immediately called 9-1-1 for help.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Vehicular Crimes Unit was sent to investigate the crash. It was determined through interviews that Howard Fabian had been drinking beer and shots at the Rodeo Bar inside of the Best Western Hotel. He left the bar around midnight and told the bartender that he was going to walk home.
At this time detectives do not believe the driver of the Chevy Kobalt was impaired nor did anything to contribute to this accident. The body of Howard Fabian was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine his cause of death and his blood alcohol concentration.
Sheriff Paul Babeu stated, “Law enforcement continuously warns people to not drive motor vehicles while impaired by alcohol. In this case, though, the driver of the vehicle was not impaired by alcohol but the pedestrian appears to have been. Our condolences go out to the family of Howard Fabian.”