County Constable and Leitchfield Firefighter Steven "Hutch" Hutchinson of Leitchfield, was killed Thursday night when he and a teenager he was trying to apprehend on foot were hit by a passing motorist.

County Coroner and Leitchfield Fire Chief Ronald Hudson said Hutchinson, 39 of Leitchfield, was killed instantly, and the 16-year-old Caneyville boy, whom police did not identify, was seriously injured and taken to a Louisville hospital where he was listed in critical condition at press time Friday.

Kentucky State Police reported Hutchinson had parked his car at the edge of Highway 54 near the Marvin Kiper farm, apparently with blue lights flashing or with his lights on bright.

The driver of the second car, Brandon T. Polston, 18, of Leitchfield, told police he was driving west when he saw Hutchinson's car in what he thought was his lane. He told police the lights were on bright.

Police reports said that when Polston swerved to miss Hutchinson's car, he could not avoid hitting Hutchinson and a 16-year-old boy he was talking to in the grassy area beside the roadway.

Polston told police he first thought Hutchinson's vehicle was in the eastbound lane, however by the time he noticed the vehicle in his lane, and swerved to miss it, he couldn't avoid colliding with the two people in the grassy area.

Hutchinson, who had served on the Leitchfield Fire Department for 18 years and was elected constable in 2002, had been dispatched to try to locate a teenager who had reportedly run away on foot.

E-911 dispatchers said Hutchinson radioed back shortly before the 11:50 p.m. accident to say he had located the boy and would be out of his vehicle. Dispatchers heard no more calls from Hutchinson.