McCleary police office cited after pedestrian collision

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 12, 2026

On June 18, the McCleary Police Department posted on Facebook that an “on-duty officer with the McCleary Police Department was involved in a traffic collision with a pedestrian in the area of Bear Street and N 5th Street.”

The Washington State Patrol has since released the incident report of the collision. The on-duty officer was Edward Owen, and he struck a pedestrian, who was in their 60s, as they crossed the street. Owen was cited for violation RCW 46.61.672(1) — Personal Electronic Device While Driving. Out of respect for the pedestrian’s identity, The Daily World isn’t disclosing the individual’s name. Owen has since left the McCleary Police Department and is now with the Westport Police Department.

Washington State Trooper Austyn J. Haley responded to the collision. In his narrative, Haley wrote, “[Owen] was responding to a call at 500 block on Huckleberry and pointed with his hand down toward the end of 5th Street. He then advised he pulled onto E Bear Street and stopped about 10 feet back from where I observed his car parked in the middle of the roadway. Then he got onto his phone to look at the address and stopped to make sure that down the roadway was where the call was coming from. I asked if he stopped in the middle of the roadway and he stated yes. Stated the intersection was clear at the time.”

To Haley’s question of whether he had cleared the intersection before getting on his phone, Owen said yes. “Officer Owen stated he looked where he was going and he was going about 4-5 miles per hour when [the individual] was on his hood,” according to the Washington State Patrol report.

In the pedestrian’s statement to Haley, the individual said they “[were] walking down E Bear Street and observed Officer Owen’s patrol car stopped in the roadway and thought Officer Owen was letting [them] cross the road. [The individual] said [they] waved at Officer Owen and then proceeded to cross the road when [they were] struck by Officer Owen’s vehicle.”

Officer Owen stated he did not see the individual walking their dog and “did not remember anyone walking down on the sidewalk when pulling into the residential neighborhood.”

When Haley arrived at the scene, the individual had already been transported to Summit Pacific Hospital. Later, in a phone call with the individual, Haley was told that the injuries resulting from the collision were “scrapped knees and fractured cartilage in [their] nose.”