MEDIA RELEASE:

On October 7, 2017 at approximately 8:23 PM, Deputies responded to a residence in the 13400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue for a suspicious person. The caller advised 9-1-1 that an unknown male was knocking on his door and walking around the front of his residence. The caller said the male had a thin build and was wearing a red shirt.

When Deputies arrived on scene they observed a male, matching the description given by the caller, walking from the caller’s residence, with two dogs following close behind him.

Deputies identified the male as Clifford Lee Staley, 49, of no fixed address. Staley admitted to being at the caller’s house but stated he committed no crimes. After speaking with Staley, Deputies concluded that no crimes had been committed. Staley was told he was free to leave and not to return to the private property of the caller.

At 8:46 PM, Staley began to leave the area, walking south on the wide southbound shoulder of Pennsylvania Ave in front of Burkholder’s Flooring, 13412 Pennsylvania Avenue, while talking to the two dogs to keep them in tow.

Staley and the dogs had walked approximately 60 feet from the location of the Deputies when one of the dogs began to walk south in the travel portion of the southbound lane of Pennsylvania Ave. Deputies observed a minivan driving southbound Pennsylvania Avenue strike the dog. The dog was thrown across the median and came to rest on the median line touching the northbound lane. Staley immediately ran into the roadway to tend to the dog.

One of the Deputies went to assist the dog, while the other contacted the driver of the minivan. The Deputy assisting the dog order Staley to stay out of the roadway several times, for his safety, as the Deputy obtained supplies to help the dog. Staley ignored the Deputies orders, and crouched down by the dog, in the northbound travel lane. Staley was then struck by a vehicle traveling in the northbound lane.

Staley was transported to Meritus Medical Center, where he is in critical condition.