FLAGSTAFF, Arizona (AP) – A cyclist has died after being hit by an Arizona man last month who plowed his pickup truck into a group of people taking part in a bike race, authorities said Monday.
58-year-old Jeremy Barrett died of his injuries on Saturday, said Bart Graves, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Security.
Barrett, who lived part of his life in Zimbabwe and Australia, was known in the cycling community for welcoming new riders and welcoming cyclists who trained in southern Arizona, Friends said.
“He was very selfless,” said Joey Iuliano, president of the Arizona Bicycle Racing Association. “I was told that while the paramedics were working on him, he asked how his friends were doing and if they were okay.”
The accused driver, Shawn Michael Chock, 36, was charged last week in nine cases of grievous bodily harm with a fatal weapon and one each for escaping an accident and illegal escape. He pleaded not guilty to the Navajo District High Court on Monday.
Navajo County attorney Brad Carlyon said he expected additional charges to be brought after Barrett’s death.
“Once we have all of the law enforcement reports we will review whether new charges are appropriate,” Carlyon said.
Hunter T. Lewis, an attorney representing Chock, declined to comment on the charges last week and did not respond to messages from The Associated Press on Monday.
Several cyclists were injured on June 19 when Chock sped into Show Low, a mountain town about three hours northeast of Phoenix, into a crowd that had gathered for the annual 93-kilometer Bike the Buff race.
Chock then bumped into a telephone pole and backed away from the crowd as cyclists pounded on the truck’s windows yelling at him to get out, witnesses said. He then drove down the street, turned and drove back to the cyclists before driving away, witnesses said.
The police shot Chock in a nearby hardware store. He was charged after he was released from the hospital earlier this month and remains in jail on a $ 500,000 loan.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is overseeing the investigation. Graves, the agency’s spokesman, said other injured cyclists had a long road to recovery.
Barrett’s condition had improved with the operation, and the Doctors in Flagstaff planned to transport him to Tucson. But he suffered another setback while struggling to survive, said his cycling colleague and friend Kathryn Bertine.
She said Barrett was loved and respected in the close-knit cycling community in the United States and beyond. Outside of cycling, he worked for a company that made ammonium nitrate-based products for use in mining and agriculture.
“It’s so important that people know that not (only) one cyclist has died,” said Bertine.
“It was a person, it was a friend, a father, a friend, someone who was a real living soul, an asset to our community,” she said. “And sometimes we don’t remember.”
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Joey Iuliano’s last name. ___
Tang contributed from Phoenix.
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