Cyclist killed, up to 22 injured when car hits group in Wake County, N.C.; driver, 76, charged

A group of weekend cyclists was riding east on a wooded two-lane road in Wake County, North Carolina, on Saturday morning, Nov. 7, when a westbound car crossed the center line and hit them. One rider died. Authorities say a dozen or more were injured.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said troopers responded just after 9:30 a.m. to Optimist Farm Road, about 14 miles southwest of Raleigh. The car was a black Infiniti passenger sedan.

The crash and the driver

The driver did not stop. He continued roughly a half-mile before the car ran off the left side of the road and into a ditch, the patrol said.

The patrol identified him as Donald Robert Morris-Jones, 76, of Apex. He was arrested at the scene area and is being held in the Wake County Detention Center on $1 million bond.

The Highway Patrol listed these charges: death by vehicle, seven counts of serious injury by vehicle, eight counts of hit and run, driving while impaired, reckless driving and driving left of center. The patrol said "impairment is suspected to be a factor in the crash," and has described it only as suspected.

These are charges, not findings. Morris-Jones has not been convicted of anything. No attorney for him has been identified publicly, and he has made no public statement. Court records show he is set to appear Monday afternoon, Nov. 9.

The victim

The patrol identified the dead cyclist as Patrick Allen Turner, 63, of Cary.

The riders were part of a group that gathers regularly for weekend rides, Holly Springs Fire Chief LeRoy Smith said people at the scene told him. One cyclist told WRAL the group rides this route often as part of the Capital Cycling Club. CBS News reported the group numbered more than 40 riders.

How many were hurt

The injury count differs depending on who is counting.

The Highway Patrol put the number at about a dozen, with injuries ranging from minor to serious. Chief Smith, whose department responded, said first responders found 22 injured people besides Turner. Seven were taken to regional trauma centers with major injuries and 15 others went to hospitals with lesser ones.

The gap may reflect different tallies of people who were treated versus those who were counted as injured in the patrol's crash report. Neither agency has said so. Charging documents also show a mismatch: the patrol listed seven counts of serious injury by vehicle, while a Wake County record cited in one report listed a single count. The charges could change as prosecutors review hospital records.

What the road looked like

Video from the aftermath showed officers examining a stack of bikes leaning against a guardrail along the narrow, tree-lined road. Some riders were still on scene, one still wearing his helmet with a phone to his ear.

The straight-line facts are not in dispute: a vehicle left its lane, struck a group traveling the other way, and left the scene. Leaving after a crash that kills or seriously injures someone is a felony in North Carolina, and the hit-and-run counts reflect that.

What comes next

Morris-Jones' first court appearance on Monday will address the charges and his bond. Prosecutors have not said whether additional counts will be filed. The patrol has not said what impairment tests showed. Those results, and the final tally of injured riders, are the open items as the case moves into the courts.