Here’s the latest on truck plowing into bicyclists in Goodyear over weekend
Feb 27, 2023, 2:53 PM | Updated: Feb 28, 2023, 9:19 am
(KTAR News Photo/Colton Krolak)
PHOENIX — New information was released Monday about the weekend incident where a driver plowed into a group of bicyclists in Goodyear, killing two, but many questions about the case remained unanswered.
“I definitely want to remind you that there are still details that we cannot release, that we’re still investigating, that it wouldn’t be proper for us to release that information,” Goodyear Police Chief Santiago Rodriguez said during a press conference.
“We want to do our due diligence and investigate this properly.”
Police did release the names of the people killed Saturday morning and confirmed that more people were injured than initially reported.
The deceased victims were identified as 61-year-old Karen Malisa of Goodyear and 65-year-old David Kero, a Michigan resident.
They were among 20 people riding in a group from the West Valley Cycle club on Cotton Lane south of County Road 85.
Initial reports said 11 other people were injured, but police put the figure at 17 on Monday, including one person who remained in critical condition.
Pedro Quintana-Lujan, 26, of Phoenix, was being held on a bond of $250,000 after being booked into Maricopa County Jail on two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment and two counts of causing serious death by moving violation.
He was allegedly driving a Ford F-250 southbound on the Cotton Lane bridge over the Gila River bed around 8 a.m. when he veered into the riders, who were in a bike lane.
“He indicated that he was coming from picking up a workload and going to a worksite,” Goodyear Public Information Officer Lisa Berry told reporters. “So we believe this was a work-related travel for him in his personal vehicle.”
Police haven’t pinned down what caused the collision, but Rodriguez said there was “no indication that this was an intentional act.”
Rodriguez said investigators spent 12 hours at the scene processing evidence Saturday.
According to court documents, Quintana-Lujan told police his steering locked, causing the truck to drift out of his control and into the cyclists.
“Certainly all of that will need to be looked into [by investigators],” Berry said.
“They will look into the vehicle. They will do their due diligence to determine if, in fact, that was the case.”
Police are also looking into whether Quintana-Lujan was impaired, but they are waiting on test results from a blood sample sent to the Arizona Department of Public Safety lab.
“I know there are so many questions. We have so many questions,” Berry said.
“This is a devastating tragedy that is hit our community and we are all suffering together. … Be patient with us so we can be thorough in our investigation.”
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Colton Krolak contributed to this report.