Pima County Public Defender Robert Hooker was killed Tuesday evening when a drag-racing pickup truck went out of control and struck his vehicle just north of Downtown, police said.
The crash occured at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on North Main Avenue near West Fifth Street.
A red truck was apparently drag racing another vehicle southbound on Main, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson police spokesman.
The red truck went out of control, crossed into the northbound lanes and collided with two vehicles, a maroon Acura SUV and a silver Chevrolet Trailblazer that Hooker, a former judge, was driving, Pacheco said.
The driver of the Acura was injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital with critical injuries, Pacheco said.
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The other vehicle involved int the street racing left the scene, he said.Hooker, a former Pima County Superior Court judge, took over the Public Defender's Office in January 2005, He was also a longtime criminal defense lawyer
Hooker’s former law partner, Larry Hecker, who has a law office just a few blocks from the accident scene, said Hooker was “one of the most passionate and principled lawyers I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with.”
Hooker and Hecker were partners for more than six years after Hooker stepped down from the Superior Court bench.
