By Dennis J. Carroll
SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran was one of at least three drivers who accidentally struck the body of a man on a highway, but police have not found her at fault, her office said on Friday.
The collision happened on Thursday night on New Mexico Highway 599 in the area of Santa Fe, police said.
Investigators believe a silver BMW, not driven by Duran, was the first to strike an unidentified man trying to cross the highway, Santa Fe Police Captain Aric Wheeler said.
Police said they did not know why the man was crossing the highway.
Duran said that, after the collision, she thought she had run over an animal in the road.
"I am sure other drivers have been just as shocked and saddened as I have been to learn what had actually taken place in this tragedy," she said.
At least three vehicles were taken into police custody for processing of possible evidence, including Duran's state-owned auto, Wheeler said.
The name of the 46-year-old pedestrian who died and where he was from were not released, though police said he was from a town north of Santa Fe.
"This past evening at approximately 7:30 p.m. while driving home from work, my car was apparently one of multiple vehicles to pass over what appeared to be an animal that had been struck in the middle of the right lane of Highway 599," Duran said.
"We later learned that what I believed to have been an animal was in fact the body of someone who had been hit a few minutes before while crossing the highway."
Wheeler said that Duran, who was alone in the car, "stopped for a moment, thinking she had struck an animal," but then proceeded to her home. Duran did notice the vehicle behind her flashing its headlights so she phoned police when she arrived home, Wheeler said. Officers then took possession of her car.
The silver BMW that investigators believe first struck the man is among the three vehicles they seized, Wheeler said. The driver's name was not released.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Greg McCune)
