
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309300042
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN KILLED REPAIRING TIRE

A Salem tire company employee was killed Wednesday afternoon when he was struck by a car while helping a motorist stranded in the middle of Fourth Street.

Joseph M. Hite, 32, was pronounced dead at 6 p.m., about 40 minutes after the rush-hour accident, according to a spokesperson for Lewis-Gale Hospital.

Officer M.H. Lutz of the Salem Police Department provided this account:

Shortly after 5 p.m., a man turned west onto Fourth Street after having work The driver said she saw the truck, but she never saw him. Officer M.H. Lutz done on his pickup truck at Wimmer Tire & Brake Center at 632 W. Fourth Street.

The truck ground to a halt after about 30 yards because the lug nuts were loose on the right rear tire.

Hite, who worked at Wimmer Tire, brought a lug wrench from the shop and went to work tightening the tire.

He was struck by a westbound car as he squatted by the truck.

"The driver said she saw the truck, but she never saw him," Lutz said.

The driver was identified as Melissa C. Harless, 19, of Dry Hollow Road.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB