A worker who died when he was hit by an SUV in a construction zone Thursday night has been identified as 26-year-old Ben Lenzen Jr. of Fargo, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol.
The accident happened at 7:13 p.m. on Cass County 10, between Mapleton and West Fargo and about a half-mile east of Cass County 15, where a pilot car was leading traffic around a paving machine in the westbound lane, the patrol said in a news release.
The SUV driver, 45-year-old Russell Robert of West Fargo, drove around the stopped westbound traffic, the patrol said.
The SUV swerved and hit the back of the paver and then struck and killed the construction worker who was walking alongside it, the patrol said.
Roberts was taken by ambulance to MeritCare Hospital in Fargo for unknown injuries.
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Lenzen was a member of the road construction crew and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Charges are pending against the driver, the patrol said.
Authorities said they aren't ruling out the possibility that a medical condition may have played a role in the accident, WDAY-TV reported.
