5 cyclists killed in hit-and-run case

At least five bicyclists were killed and four others were injured Tuesday after their group was hit by a pickup truck outside Kalamazoo, Mich.

The crash happened just before 7 p.m. near a park in Cooper Township, north of Kalamazoo. Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting said the bicyclists were pronounced dead at the scene.
 
The driver was identified as a 50-year-old man from western Michigan. He was arrested after fleeing on foot from where the damaged pickup stopped.
 
Getting said calls were made about the pickup to several area agencies earlier Thursday "over concerns" about erratic driving. He said authorities had been searching for the driver, but there was no active pursuit at the time of the accident.
 
The identites of the victims were not immediately available. A hospital spokesperson told Fox 17 that one of the injured victims was in critical condition while a second was in fair condition. The status of the other two injured victims was not immediately clear.
 
Paul Selden of the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club told MLive that he knew of a group of bicyclists who held regular rides and would have been in the vicinity of the park at the time of the crash.
 
"What I have seen of these riders in the past and the way (they) organize the rides, they always were led in a safe manner," he said.
 
Witness Markus Eberhard told WOOD-TV that he was leaving the park after going fishing when someone yelled at him to watch out. Eberhard said the pickup truck almost ran over his foot before striking the bikers.
 
"I saw a bunch of bikes hit the front of his truck and a couple of them flew," Eberhard said.
 
"All I heard was a pop and a really big crash noise," witness Arika Kruger told the station. "We didn’t see anybody walk away."

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