(Banner Staff Photo by Don Treul) Emergency responders hold up a protective sheet as the body of Donald Barnett is removed from the scene after he was accidently hit and killed by a vehicle Thursday, Sept. 24, in downtown Bullard. “Split seconds. That’s when things happen,” said Kenneth Newman.

Newman, 76 and Donald Barnett, 74, were transferring vehicles for Enterprise Rent-A-Car Thursday, Sept. 24, and decided to stop and eat lunch at Legends Old Time Burger Café at 117 N. Phillips St. in Bullard.

The two men had traveled from Nacogdoches, their home town, and they were on their way to a Tyler site. They worked together for several years transferring vehicles for the rental center.

“We stopped here every time we came through here,” Newman said.

Barnett was driving a 2009 Ford 350 passenger van at about 1 p.m. when they pulled up to the restaurant in Bullard. It had been raining for several days and rain water had pooled in front of the building. Barnett got out of the vehicle but Newman said he would have had to step into a deep puddle so the two men suggested he slide over to the driver’s seat and reposition the vehicle to be on dry ground.

According to Bullard Police Sgt. Bryan Richards, who investigated the incident, Newman moved to the driver’s seat and began to drive to another parking spot while Barnett walked in front of the vehicle. Newman’s foot slipped off of the brake onto the accelerator and the vehicle jumped a concrete parking block and struck Barnett who was thrown onto another concrete parking block next the side of the building. Apparently, Barnett’s head struck the concrete block. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Meredith with trauma to his head as the cause of death.

While some in the restau- rant responded to help, Bullard Voluntary Fire Department firefighters quickly arrived and began efforts to revive Barnett. ETMC of Tyler also responded to the scene. They were unable to resuscitate Barnett.

“He is,” Newman said before pausing and concluding, “was my best friend.”

Some customers from the restaurant left unable to look or they quickly surveyed the scene with sideways glances.

The body was removed from the scene by Boren-Conner Funeral Home of Bullard. No autopsy was ordered.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Trevor Phillips assisted in the investigation, and the Smith County Constable’s Office, Precinct 3, also responded to the scene.

While at the scene, the ETMC EMT’s also responded to an emergency inside the restaurant after an unidentified patron began to feel faint. He later left the restaurant in a private vehicle.

Funeral services for Barnett are pending with Cason- Monk Funeral Home of Nacogdoches.