MARANA, AZ — Along Avra Valley Road in Marana, there are only farms and fast cars. A dolly in the middle of the road could cause a lot of problems.
“They were on their way home, they had almost hit the dolly,” said Aryn Leneve.
Aryn’s father, 55-year-old Dale Leneve was driving home with his boss last Friday night when they saw the dolly.
“Immediately my dad was like, ‘pull over, pull over, you need to stop,'" Leneve said. "'I need to get that before somebody gets hurt.’”
His boss pulled over and Dale got out of the car to move it, but he was too late. One driver ran into it. Then, Dale rushed to remove the dolly before a second oncoming driver did the same, but that driver hit him and he died on the scene.
“The look on her face I instantly already knew," Leneve said. "I said, 'If I know what you’re about to say please don’t say it.'”
She was in Florida when she got the call from her mom.
“That’s when she said...'your dad passed away.'”
Leneve says her dad struggled with drugs and alcohol abuse his whole life but was sober in the last four years. She says he always tried to do the right thing.
“I’m not surprised how my dad left this earth: doing a heroic act. That’s him, 110%.”
This is the second pedestrian death on Marana’s roads this year. Lt. Tim Brunenkant says if there’s anything obstructing the road, call 911.
“When we get a call of an object in the roadway, we’ll respond," Brunenkant said. "We have our backlights that slow traffic down. We’ll go into the roadway and remove it as safely as we can.”
The driver that hit Dale stopped and answered questions for Marana police. Officers are putting the case together to send to the county attorney. She will decide whether to press charges.
