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Police identify man hit, killed by car while on horseback in Riverton

Posted at 9:04 PM, Sep 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-18 12:55:28-04

RIVERTON, Utah -- Police have identified a man who was hit and killed by a vehicle while on horseback in Riverton.

The deceased was identified Tuesday as 36-year-old Venancio Avila of West Valley City.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said officers were called to a report of an auto-pedestrian accident near 2143 W. and 13800 S around 7:00 p.m. Monday.

When officers with the Unified Police Department arrived on-scene, they found that a vehicle had hit a man on horseback. Avila was thrown from the animal during the crash, suffering fatal injuries.

The horse was also killed.

"The horse had to be put down due to its injuries as well," Rivera said.

Police were investigating exactly what caused the accident.

"It's a possibility the sun was in the eyes of the driver," Rivera said. "But that's just from several witnesses that happened to drive down this road. That said, the sun was very, very bright."

The driver stopped after the accident and was cooperating with police.