PEORIA, Ariz. — A Glendale Fire Department employee has resigned from his job after he was detained on suspicion of DUI when he allegedly drove a truck in tow of a boat that ran over and killed a Peoria man.
Glen Duenas was killed on Oct. 7 around 6 p.m. at the South Ramp at Lake Pleasant.
Duenas’ girlfriend, Johanna Roman, told 12News the 55-year-old had finished loading his boat onto his truck trailer, when a friend who was with them, drove the truck in tow up the ramp.
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Roman said her boyfriend stood on a ladder between the boat and the truck as the friend drove off. She was inside the truck when she heard Duenas yell “stop” one time.
Roman said the driver kept going and parked. She later learned Duenas had somehow fallen off and was run over by the boat on the trailer.
She saw Duenas's body lying on the ground as paramedics worked to save his life, but efforts were unsuccessful.
The Peoria Police Department is investigating the incident. They tell 12News impairment was a factor in the 55-year-old's death. So, for now, they are only conducting a DUI investigation.
12News learned the friend and driver of the truck was a Glendale Fire Department employee. As of 2020, he was an engineer. He has since resigned from his job, the department confirmed.
The agency would not answer 12News' questions about how long he’d been with the city when the firefighter resigned. The driver was detained, questioned, and let go, as police waited for the toxicology report, police said.
12News tried to speak with the driver in question, who we are not naming as he has not been officially charged with a crime. He did not want to talk.
Peoria police are still investigating the case. The medical examiner determined Glen Duenas died from blunt force trauma.