Report: Relay runner’s partner saw fatal crash

By Mary Manning

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 | 12:29 p.m.

Funeral services were held today in Utah for a relay race runner struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver this past weekend in Henderson. Meanwhile, new details in the case emerged today in an arrest report.

The report describes how 33-year-old Jeremy Kunz's running partner, Brendan Parry, had been standing 50 feet away from Kunz, both of them on a dirt shoulder of Horizon Ridge Parkway, when Parry saw a vehicle heading toward them at a high rate of speed.

Parry was able to jump out of the way of a silver 2005 Nissan Altima four-door vehicle as it careened off the pavement into the dirt shoulder, the police report said. Police said the Nissan was heading east about 4:30 a.m. Saturday when it left the pavement, struck Kunz and dragged him across the westbound lanes of Horizon Ridge, overturning once and coming to rest upright.

Parry saw a man digging through the glove compartment and when Parry told the man he had hit someone, the man staggered away and yelled, "Please don't call the police," the arrest report indicated.

The man, identified as 25-year-old Joshua Salayich of Henderson, then ran about half a mile away until Henderson police officers caught up with him, authorities said. After a struggle, they handcuffed and arrested him.

Salayich has been arrested in connection with driving under the influence of alcohol with death, leaving the scene of an accident and resisting an officer, Henderson police said.

Salayich had minor injuries to his head, neck and hands and wasn't wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the police report said. He repeatedly denied he had been driving the Nissan, but police found footprints matching the soles of his shoes both on the driver's side and the passenger's side of the car, the police report said.

A fund for Kunz's three children has been set up at Nevada State Bank branches and anyone interested in donating also may contact the Ragnar Relay Series by e-mail at [email protected] with the word "donate" in the subject line.

Kunz was one of about 2,400 people taking part in a 180-mile run from Valley of Fire State Park to Red Rock Resort. His wife, Melinda, also participated in the Ragnar Relay run.