North Carolina Driver, 76, Charged in Fatal Crash Into 30 Cyclists

A 76-year-old Apex man is being held on a $1 million secured bond after troopers say he crossed the center line of a two-lane road southwest of Raleigh on Saturday morning and drove into a group of about 30 cyclists, killing one rider and injuring about 20 others.

Patrick Allen Turner, 63, of Cary, North Carolina, died at the scene. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol identified him as the cyclist killed when a black Infiniti came across the center line of Optimist Farm Road near Talicud Trail in Wake County, about 14 miles southwest of Raleigh.

The driver, Donald Robert Morris-Jones, 76, of Apex, was arrested and charged with felony death by vehicle, seven counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, eight counts of felony hit-and-run, driving while impaired, reckless driving and driving left of center, according to the Highway Patrol. Impairment is suspected to be a factor in the crash, the agency said.

The car kept going for half a mile

Troopers say the Infiniti did not stop after hitting the riders. It continued for about a half-mile, ran off the left side of the roadway and ended up in a ditch.

The State Highway Patrol said Morris-Jones stumbled out of the car after it crashed. He is also accused of trying to flee the scene.

Court documents say Morris-Jones has no criminal record but is considered an overwhelming danger to society. He was booked into the Wake County Detention Center and was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon, Nov. 9.

Sgt. Marcus Bethea of the State Highway Patrol laid out the charges in a news release Saturday. The crash closed Optimist Farm Road for hours before it reopened early that afternoon.

Radio traffic from the first minutes

Emergency radio traffic recorded on Broadcastify captured how responders described the scene as they rolled up. "A vehicle just hit 15 to 20 pedestrians. Vehicle was a small black Infiniti ... the driver is currently out, stumbling around at this time. It's gonna be an older white male with white hair, goatee wearing a blue shirt. The vehicle is currently in a ditch. There are several injuries and possibly one code 7. SHP has been notified and EMS is on the way as well."

Troopers got the call just after 9:30 a.m. Fire and rescue squads from multiple agencies responded. Authorities classified it as a mass casualty incident.

Video shot after the collision showed law enforcement looking over a stack of bikes propped against a guardrail along the road. Some riders were still standing there, including one man walking around with a phone to his ear, still wearing his helmet.

Seven traumas, and a bus full of the rest

Holly Springs Fire Chief LeRoy Smith gave the first hard numbers Saturday morning. "We had seven traumas, one fatality and about 13 minor injuries that are being treated and transported now," he said.

A Wake County EMS bus was brought to the scene to move the riders with less serious wounds. The injured went to WakeMed Raleigh, WakeMed Cary and UNC Health Holly Springs, with the seven most seriously hurt taken to regional trauma centers.

Counts reported that day varied as hospitals and responders sorted out who went where. Early reporting put the number of injured at a dozen or more. Later figures from Smith put the toll at 20 injured, seven serious and 13 minor. CNN reported 22 injured, citing Smith, with seven taken to trauma centers and 15 others hospitalized.

Arrest warrants for Morris-Jones spell out some of the specific injuries: a leg injury, an injury to ribs, a cut arm.

The riders were part of a Saturday regular

The group belonged to the Capital Cycling Club, a nonprofit based in Cary that describes itself on its website as one of the oldest cycling clubs in the state. It races and organizes weekly rides on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

About 30 riders were heading east when the car came across the line, according to the Holly Springs Fire Department. They were headed downhill on a wooded, curving stretch of road, in the middle of fall color season.

The club's Saturday loop runs between Apex and Angier and crosses Optimist Farm Road for roughly two miles, the News & Observer reported.

One of the cyclists told WRAL they frequently ride the route together.

Cyclists who ride that road reacted fast

Lin Osbourne, a member of the Capital Cycling Club, rides often with the same group. He was not out with them Saturday. Everyone he is close to is safe, he said, but he knows just about everyone in the club.

"When things like this happen, it's just a reminder that no matter how much we police ourselves, there are circumstances that are well beyond our control," Osbourne said.

He has been road cycling for about 40 years and plans to keep going, though he has already shifted the time of day he rides to avoid heavier traffic. "I will continue, but I recognize that it's an inescapable risk, and I would hope that people would be considerate of one another," he said.

Another Triangle club, TeamCBC, canceled its Sunday ride. A member of the group wrote on Facebook: "Out of respect for the rider that was killed and all those who were injured in today's CCC bike ride we are canceling tomorrow's TeamCBC Ride. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those involved."

Bike Durham's board chair heard through his wife's phone

Shaun King, board chair of the nonprofit Bike Durham, found out the way a lot of area riders did, through frantic messages. "This morning, when my wife started to receive messages saying, 'Are you okay? Are you hurt?' We scrambled to figure out what was happening," King said.

King has ridden with the Capital Cycling Club himself. "My heart sank because that's a major toll on both one family and an entire community," he said. He described the club as an older group that rides responsibly and has raised money for multiple sclerosis every July 4 for more than 30 years with its Firecracker Ride.

He also explained why the group was packed two riders wide. "By riding in the style that we do, which is two in line, it means that we are more compact, so that a vehicle passes us under a short duration when they're in the other line," King said.

"We feel very vulnerable in this moment because this harm that our CCC community members are feeling right now could have happened to any of us," he said.

What investigators have not said

Authorities have not said what caused the suspected impairment. Asked whether alcohol, drugs or medication was involved, a State Highway Patrol spokesperson said the agency cannot speculate and that many of those questions will be answered in the final crash report.

Chief Smith had a message for drivers. "Be aware of, you know, people that are out riding bikes, they have rights to be on the road too, so kind of yield to them and be cautious when you're riding around bicyclists," he said.

King pushed for changes beyond awareness, including better signage on rural roads. "We could have better signage on roads that, for example, said, 'share the road with cyclists', or 'be watchful of this blind turn'. 'Pass safely.' And there's so many educational opportunities that we could move forward together with if we had better policy," he said.

His comparison for drivers stuck with people. He asked motorists to offer cyclists on country roads the same patience they would offer a grandmother fumbling with her change at a Walmart cash register.

A neighbor, a vigil, and a road that reopened

Bob Schroder lives near the crash scene and used to ride himself. "It's sad that this happens," he said. "I have sympathy for all the people who got hurt, and I hope the remaining survivors stay that way and that they live through this."

Turner and other cyclists killed on the road will be remembered at a candlelight vigil on November 15, part of Bike Durham's World Day of Remembrance, King said.

"We'll be remembering the person we lost today on this ride, and it'll be a real challenge for us to heal together," King said.

Optimist Farm Road has reopened. Morris-Jones was being held in the Wake County Detention Center on the $1 million secured bond, facing one count of felony death by vehicle, seven counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, eight counts of felony hit-and-run involving serious injury or death, plus driving while impaired, reckless driving and driving left of center.