On Monday, November 12th, 2012 at 7:49 p.m. the Superior Police Department received a 9-1-1 regarding a pedestrian vs. truck accident on Highway 60 near the Circle K store. Upon their arrival to the scene, the pedestrian was pronounced deceased. Superior Police Department didn’t have the resources to investigate the fatal accident so our office was asked to take it over.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit responded to the scene and began the fatal collision investigation. The driver of the commercial truck and trailer was Matthew Hydock (age 29 of Eloy). Hydock was driving a commercial truck pulling a carnival amusement trailer. The female pedestrian was Elaine J Romero (age 47 of Superior).

The investigation determined, Hydock was headed westbound on Highway 60 at approximately 45MPH when Romero ran or walked southbound in front of him in an area without a crosswalk or intersection. Romero was struck by the truck and died instantly from massive traumatic injuries.

A witness said Romero walked out in front of the truck without warning Other witnesses said Romero was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

The investigation also showed that the Hydock was impaired by both marijuana and pain medication at the time of the collision. A blood sample was taken from Hydock and it was submitted to the Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory for analysis.

At this time, no arrest has been made and charges are pending the results of the blood test.

Sheriff Paul Babeu stated, "Investigating fatal collisions takes subject matter expertise which our Traffic Unit was able to utilize to conduct this investigation. The Mayor and Council for the town of Superior have asked me personally for the assistance of my office because of the continuous rise in crimes occurring in their once peaceful town. Our deputies and traffic team will be conducting daily high visibility zero tolerance enforcement in an effort to assist."