Last month, University of Oregon hockey player Dayton Clarke was hit by a delivery truck on East 24th Avenue between Kincaid and Harris streets and died at the scene.
Now the family is working with a private investigator and an attorney to further investigate the incident, said Wayne Clark, Dayton’s father. The family plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit based on the findings of that investigation, he said.
At 3:54 a.m. on May 13, the Eugene Police Department was called to respond to a severely injured person, later identified as Dayton Clarke, a forward on the Oregon Ducks’ hockey team, after he was found lying in the middle of the road. He was hit by a truck from a delivery company based out of Missouri, police said. The company, TR Delivery LLC, could not be reached for comment.
The truck’s driver, whom police identified as Leonel Hernandez Morales, 30, drove away from the scene after hitting Dayton Clarke and later arrived back at the scene, authorities said. Wayne Clark said police told him there was also a passenger in the truck at the time of the incident whose name has not been released yet.
EPD said Morales came back to the scene after initially driving away and cooperated with the investigation. Wayne Clarke said Morales arrived about an hour after the first officer arrived on the scene.
Morales thought he hit a garbage bag and continued driving, Wayne Clarke said police had told him. Dayton Clarke was about 230 pounds and 6 foot 3 inches tall, making it difficult to compare to a garbage bag, Wayne Clarke said.
Wayne Clarke said police told him Morales later noticed evidence of the incident on his tires after driving away, which made him decide to go back to the scene. Wayne Clarke said police told him EPD tested the blood alcohol content of the driver, Morales, but not the passenger. The test results haven’t been released.
The Emerald reached out to EPD to confirm these details about the incident, but EPD spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin said the department could not do so since the investigation is still ongoing. “We do provide more details to the family of deceased persons than we would normally release in the public,” she said.
According to McLaughlin, more details will be released in the future. Morales has not been arrested or charged in connection with the incident.
“What normally happens in a fatal crash investigation is the initial patrol response is followed by the deployment of the Major Collision Investigation team,” McLaughlin said. “The team is highly trained, and experienced, and completes a very thorough investigation that may take longer than people guess. That is still ongoing.”
Meanwhile, Wayne Clarke said his family hired private investigator Bill Lioio and Springfield attorney Matt Cox to investigate the case further.
Cox said in a voicemail that he and Lioio are looking for anyone who has video camera footage of Dayton Clarke’s movements from about 2 a.m. to about 5 a.m. the night of the incident, May 13. The team is also searching for footage of the delivery truck from that night, as well.
“We know he was at Webfoot and left at 1:48 a.m., then went to Max’s Tavern and was helping someone,” Wayne Clarke said about Dayton’s whereabouts that night.
Wayne Clarke said that the family and police have video footage of Dayton helping an Oregon football player outside of Max’s who had drunk too much. Wayne Clarke said there has been talk of his son being drunk, which could have led to the accident. But the footage they have of him helping people suggests otherwise, he said.
UO spokesperson Angela Seydel said Dayton Clarke’s family have reached out to the University of Oregon Police Department to talk about student safety. UOPD Chief Jason Wade plans to speak with them, she said.
