Bicyclist may have been target of SUV
The death of a 44-year-old bicyclist critically injured when he was struck by an SUV in a Stanton alley may have been caused deliberately, an Orange County sheriff’s spokesman said Friday.
The man riding the mountain bike in an alley behind 8080 Cerritos Ave. was hit about 8 a.m. Thursday. “This is a narrow alley where he was hit, and witnesses said the vehicle actually accelerated as it approached him,” sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said. Homicide detectives are investigating. The man’s name has not been released, pending notification of relatives.
Witnesses reported seeing the driver and three passengers in a white Ford Explorer with a gray stripe, Amormino said. Investigators didn’t find skid marks, he said, indicating the driver didn’t brake. Officials are not ruling out a gang connection, although the early hour and victim’s age do not fit the pattern of gang retaliation, Amormino said.
The victim was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange with massive head trauma. He died Thursday night. The suspects are estimated to be in their 20s, and one may be a woman, Amormino said.
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