A reward of US$30,000 has led to the arrest of a driver alleged to have struck and killed Martinez, California cyclist Mark Pendleton late in the day on November 24, 2008 in rural Contra Costa County, California.
The California Highway Patrol worked closely with the Contra Costa County district attorney once Harold Brown, 53, was arrested as the primary suspect in the case on June 2, 2009. Brown's arraignment is scheduled for late November 2009. He was booked on charges of felony hit-and-run, as well as vehicular manslaughter. According to reports, the driver of the vehicle that killed the 49-year-old Pendleton did not stop, and left the scene of the crime.
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Pendleton was struck around 5 p.m. while riding south on McEwen Road near Highway 4 south of Port Costa. A northbound vehicle apparently crossed over the center line and hit him, Officer Scott Yox of the California Highway Patrol said.
Pendleton, an avid cyclist and a member of the Wells Fargo/C4 racing team, was returning home on the two-lane road from a training ride in the dark. Pendleton was not using lights or reflectors at the time of the accident, and died at the scene; his bicycle was destroyed.
"His widow, Denise Pendleton, told several of us during memorial events and services last year how honoured Mark was to be a member of the team, so we’ve really tried to emphasized through our actions that we felt equally honoured to have him as a team-mate, if only for the one year," team-mate Mark Deterline told BikeRadar Tuesday.
"The Mark Pendleton memorial badge is featured on the upper sleeve of our 2009 jerseys and will be featured again on our 2010 kits," he added.
Pendleton's Wells Fargo Racing Team/C4 are gathering for the second annual Mark Pendleton Memorial Ride at Peet's Coffee & Tea in Danville, California at 9 a.m. on November 22.
For more information on the ride, visit www.c4racing.org.