Police Re-Create Accident that Killed Ankeny Crossing Guard

were at the intersection of School and West First streets this morning .

On Sept. 15, 78-year-old Franklyn Luttrell was working his usual post as a school crossing guard at the intersection when he was struck by a pickup truck driven by Laurin Cole, 63, of Ankeny.

Luttrell suffered severe head injuries and died that afternoon at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines.

Witnesses said Cole’s truck was eastbound on West First Street when he drove through a red light, striking Luttrell as he stepped off the curb and into the street. Luttrell was wearing a reflective vest and holding a stop sign above his head when he was hit, police said.

Cole told officers he did not see Luttrell or the red light because the sun was in his eyes, said Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec.

Officers said it should be about a week before they have results from today's re-enactment.

Police were at the intersection preparing to begin the re-enactment at about 7:38 a.m., the exact time the accident occurred last week. It was originally scheduled for last Friday but cloudy skies hampered the department’s efforts.

Police looked at a variety of factors this morning that could have contributed to the accident, said Officer Brian Wasko, and incorporated them into the re-enactment.

“We’re tried to re-create this the best we could,” Wasko said.

Police drove a city public safety truck toward the intersection three times, heading eastbound on First Street. Each approach was done in the lane closest to the curb.

The first approach was done at the same time as the original accident.

“We did it in a truck at the same height (as Cole’s) to re-create this,” Wasko said. Doing it this way, he added, would help police verify if the sun was a contributing factor in the accident.

The second and third approaches were done to examine other factors such as skid marks, position of the truck’s mirrors and proximity to the curb, all things that can help determine what Cole saw the morning of the accident.

Wasko was assisted on the scene by community service worker Pam McWilliams and Sgt. Brian Kroska of the .