A Saturday morning group ride outside Raleigh, North Carolina, turned into a mass-casualty scene when a car crossed the center line and plowed into dozens of cyclists, killing one rider and injuring 22 others, authorities said.
A group of road cyclists on a ride (illustrative photo). Photo: Fukumoto / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
What Happened on Optimist Farm Road
The crash happened just after 9:30 a.m. on Saturday along Optimist Farm Road in Wake County, about 14 miles southwest of Raleigh, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said. The cyclists, members of the Capital Cycling Club, were riding east in a group of more than 40 when an oncoming black Infiniti passenger car crossed the center line and drove straight into them.
Patrick Allen Turner, a 63-year-old cyclist from Cary, North Carolina, was killed in the crash, the Highway Patrol announced. First responders found 22 other riders injured. Seven people with more serious injuries were taken to regional trauma centers, and 15 others were hospitalized, Holly Springs Fire Chief LeRoy Smith told CNN.
Video of the aftermath showed law enforcement inspecting a stack of bicycles propped against a guardrail along the wooded two-lane road. Some cyclists were still at the scene, including one man walking around with a phone to his ear, still wearing his bike helmet.
Driver Arrested After Fleeing the Scene
The driver did not stop after striking the group. He continued driving for about a half-mile before running off the left side of the roadway into a ditch, authorities said.
State troopers identified the driver as 76-year-old Donald Robert Morris-Jones of Apex, North Carolina. He was arrested at the scene and faces multiple charges, including felony death by vehicle, seven counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, eight counts of felony hit-and-run involving serious injury or death, driving while impaired, reckless driving, and driving left of center.
Investigators said impairment is suspected to have been a factor in the crash. Morris-Jones is being held in the Wake County Detention Center on a $1 million secured bond, and court records describe him as an "overwhelming danger to society," although he does not appear to have a criminal record. He is set to appear in court on Monday afternoon. CNN reported it was working to determine whether he has legal representation.
A Cycling Community in Shock
The Capital Cycling Club is one of the oldest cycling clubs in North Carolina, with what its website describes as "a rich history of charity work while participating in a variety of cycling races and events across Mid-Atlantic region." Members told local broadcaster WRAL that they frequently ride the Optimist Farm Road route together.
Shaun King, from the nonprofit Bike Durham, called it a "harrowing day for everyone in the cycling community." King, who has ridden with the Capital Cycling Club before, said he was nervously waiting to find out how connected he was to the riders involved.
Turner and the other cyclists will be remembered at a candlelight vigil during Bike Durham's World Day of Remembrance on November 15, a day to remember pedestrians and cyclists killed in crashes. Another local club, Team CBC, canceled its Sunday ride "out of respect for the rider that was killed and all those who were injured."
Lin Osbourne, a Capital Cycling Club member who often rides with the group but was not with them on Saturday, told WRAL the crash was a reminder that "no matter how much we police ourselves, there are circumstances that are well beyond our control." Osbourne, who has been road cycling for decades, said he intends to keep riding while taking precautions.
Sources: CNN; NBC News / WTVD; North Carolina State Highway Patrol.