Deputies: SUV fatally strikes Battle Ground man in roadway

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office says an SUV struck and killed a pedestrian in Battle Ground on Monday night.

Deputies and medics were dispatched at 9:22 p.m. for a crash involving a pedestrian in the 18200 block of Northeast 72nd Avenue.

Medics arrived and found an injured man lying in the road, according to a sheriff’s office news release. The driver of a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV and their passenger were uninjured and remained at the scene.

Collected evidence and statements from the driver indicated that the pedestrian was in the southbound lane of 72nd Avenue when he was struck, deputies said.

The pedestrian, identified as Battle Ground resident Michael D. Banta, 51, was taken to the hospital with critical injuries and later died as a result of the crash, the sheriff’s office said.

The Hyundai driver, Cheng H. Lee, 56, of Vancouver, cooperated with investigators, who did not detect any signs of impairment. The crash is still under investigation.

Deputies described the road in the area of the crash as a two-lane street with paved shoulders and a 50-mph speed limit.