This was not a good weekend to be a bike rider in Southern California.
Following on the heels of Saturday’s infamous Mulholland motorcycle crash that mowed down two riders — more on that later — word comes this morning that a bike rider died in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista Sunday night.
Multiple sources are reporting that the 59-year old rider, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was crossing Palomar Street at Industrial Boulevard when he was struck by a westbound vehicle and critically injured around 7:30 pm. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died later last night.
The driver remained on the scene; police said drugs or alcohol did not appear to be a factor.
No other details are available at this time.
This is the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this yea, and the third in San Diego County. The victim is also the second bike rider to die in San Diego County in the past week.
My deepest sympathy for the victim and his loved ones.
……..
Adding to the weekend’s carnage was the apparently unrelated shootings of two bike riders over the weekend.
According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, an unidentified rider was shot and wounded while riding on the Rio Hondo Bike Path around 4 pm Sunday.
The man reported hearing gunshots from an unknown location before discovering he had been hit by two bullets. Fortunately, his injuries were not life-threatening.
In a separate case, the L.A. Times reports that a 27-year old man was shot in the back from a passing car while riding his bike along South Hoover Street at Manchester Avenue around 3:45 this morning.
The victim is in stable condition at at local hospital. No description of the suspect or the vehicle used is currently available.
Thanks to Rick Risemberg for the link to the Times article.
Police say the shooting may have been gang-related, not surprising given the drive-by nature of the incident.
7:30 pm is just before sunset and the driver was westbound (actually, slightly to the north of west) – straight into the sun. Very dangerous time.
As to the black guy shot while riding his bicycle at 4 a.m. in South LA gang central, in the middle of the territory that is disputed by a black gang (Hoover) and a prominent Latino gang (F-13), if it’s not gang related, then the guy probably qualifies for a Darwin award.
I can’t tell from the SGV Tribune article where exactly in South El Monte the rider was, but that’s really close to that firing range just south of 60 next to the Rio Hondo path. Wonder if someone was being an idiot over at the firing range…
Good question. Most shootings of cyclists are gang-related, but this one doesn’t feel like that. I do question whether it might have been random or accidental.
Judging by satellite/street view photos, there’s a berm and a line of trees between the firing range and the bike path. It does not look like there’s a direct line of sight from the shooting range to any point on the bike path (or at least to the stretch that’s directly adjacent to the range.)