MSP investigate hit and run suspect who fled from I-696 crash and was killed

WARREN (WJBK) - The suspect in a hit and run was struck and killed fleeing on foot from a crash on I-696 Monday night.

Rodnick Talley, 38, was hit running across the freeway near Mound in Warren. 

"Be it a poor decision, nobody deserves to die after the decision they make after a traffic crash," said Lt. Mike Shaw, Michigan State Police.

It's a question so many are asking Tuesday, why did Talley run into 70-mile-per-hour traffic?

"If you don't have insurance, a driver's license, even if you are drinking," Shaw said. "Whatever it is, it is not worth taking that chance."

Michigan State Police say at about 7:30 p.m. Monday, a man had been driving a newer model Honda SUV west bound on I-696 near Mound.

"The driver had veered off the roadway and struck the median wall," Shaw said.

With one of his front tires shredded and the driver side door smashed in, police say the man crawled out of the passenger side and onto the shoulder.

"Any time you strike an item, you are involved in a crash, you have to report it," Shaw said.

Instead of calling for help, police say the man jumped over the median wall onto the shoulder of east bound 696. Then, apparently, he tried to run across four lanes of traffic.

State police say after jumping over the median, the man was hit almost instantly in the fast lane - then dragged about 150 feet. 

"I don't think people realize how fast traffic is going at 70 miles per hour," Shaw said. "That traffics on you so fast, that you don't even realize it until it's too late."

The driver of a Dodge Charger police say, was unable to swerve or slow down, and hit the man.
 
"The Dodge Charger did stop, the driver was interviewed at the scene and released," Shaw said. 

Police say they're still working to notify the man's family Tuesday. Witnesses tell FOX 2 that the scene was horrific, seeing the man, lying there lifeless.

"I can't imagine you're driving down the road and somebody runs in front of you on the freeway," Shaw said. "You don't expect it."

As charges are not expected for the driver of that Charger, police say they're desperately trying to figure out why that man chose to run. Right now, an autopsy is underway.

"We're looking at the individual that was killed," Shaw said. "If there was anything in his system and trying to determine why exactly he might have run."