Man killed, car sought in early Garner crash

Capt. Joe Binns of the Garner Police Department said three vehicles were involved in the crash at Pinewinds Drive and U.S. Highway 401 shortly before 6:30 a.m.

"One of those vehicles did leave the scene, and we are looking for anybody that might have information about that vehicle that was involved in this pedestrian fatality this morning," he said.

Binns described the car as a 2010 to 2014 Hyundai Sonata with front-end damage. Police weren't sure of the car's color.

Police identified the man killed as 53-year-old James Demetrius Mims, of Garner.

"They keep running him over. They keep running him over," a caller told a 911 dispatcher. "There were three vehicles that hit him."

Binns said the Sonata was the second vehicle to hit Mims.

An officer on scene said Mims was trying to cross the road early in the morning, and there are no crosswalks there.

“On a road such as this that doesn’t have a crosswalk, obviously, someone who is crossing the road – a four-lane highway in the dark – they’re going to have to watch out for their safety," Binns said.

Traffic headed into downtown Raleigh was backed up through the morning rush hour. Binns said law enforcement officers were trying to reconstruct the crash and expected to gather information and debris evidence throughout the day.

All lanes were open just before 10:30 a.m.