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Police: Navajo Nation officer drunk, fatally strikes cyclist

Glendale, Ariz. • Authorities say a Navajo Nation police officer who was in the Phoenix area for training struck and killed a 60-year-old bicyclist shortly after midnight on Friday.

Glendale police say 30-year-old Kevin Hevel was driving drunk when he side-swiped a sports utility vehicle and then struck Peter Rankin, who died on scene. Hevel then kept driving and ran a red light before he struck a fully-marked Glendale police SUV.

The Navajo Nation said in a news release that Hevel has been a police officer there for 10 years in the Window Rock District. The tribe said Hevel was in good standing and was not known to have a drinking problem.

It’s unclear whether Hevel was placed on leave.

Hevel faces charges of manslaughter, felony endangerment, DUI and failure to stay at the scene.

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