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Man hit by car in Truckee dies

Sun staff reports

Keith Stewart, 18, of Truckee died after he was hit by a car at Truckee River Regional Park Wednesday night.

The Truckee Police Department received a report of a vehicle and pedestrian collision at Truckee River Regional Park, where a concert was taking place. The vehicle, driven by Scott Lindner, 18, of Ross, Calif., was reported to have fled the scene, according to police reports.

Officers found Stewart, who was critically injured, in the driveway area adjacent to a paved parking lot in the park.



A Care Flight helicopter responded to the scene, but the victim was transported to Tahoe Forest Hospital by ambulance, where Stewart was pronounced dead.

Witnesses to the incident said Stewart stepped in front of the suspect vehicle after a short verbal exchange in the parking lot. Lindner’s vehicle started forward, Stewart was run over and then Lindner fled the scene with a passenger, said Truckee police Lt. Harwood Mitchell.



Mitchell said the two men knew each other and had contact with one another earlier in the week, prior to Wednesday night’s incident.

Lindner called police shortly after the incident to report his involvement and he and the passenger were detained by the California Highway Patrol before police officers arrived, Mitchell said.

Lindner was booked into the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department Truckee jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run, Mitchell said.

Police called for assistance from California State Parks and the Placer County Sheriff’s Department following the incident for crowd control.

“We weren’t sure what we were dealing with,” Mitchell said. “There was a bit of chaos at the start.”

The crime scene in the parking lot created a traffic problem for people trying to leave after the concert. Mitchell said there was “an emotionally-charged group” of witnesses, including Stewart’s brother, and friends of both parties involved. Statements were taken from witnesses while evidence was gathered, he said.


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