CONOVER, N.C. — North Carolina State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal hit-and-run that occurred on U.S. 70 on Friday night.
Bicyclist Donald Steven Ricker, 58, was traveling east on U.S. 70 near 4th Street SW in Conover when he was struck by a truck around 9 p.m. that drove away fled, officials said. Ricker died at the scene, according to N.C. State Highway Patrol.
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Robert McKenzie knew Ricker as a friend and couldn’t understand why the driver didn’t stop.
“Why would you even not stop?” McKenzie said. “It’s just tragic and shocking to lose a friend.”
Three hours before the wreck, Ricker stopped at Pam and David Yount’s home.
The couple said they knew him for years and gave him rides. Ricker also helped the couple around their house.
“I’ve been talking with him for the last couple of years,” David Yount said. “He was friends with my stepson who died and after he died, he felt like it was his obligation to come by and check on us.”
State troopers said they got some tips over the weekend and have since seized a Ford pickup truck possibly linked to the deadly crash.
Troopers said Ricker, who’s from the Newton area, had a blinking light on the back of his bicycle when he was hit in the eastbound lanes.
State Highway Patrol said investigators have a person of interest.
Workers at a nearby restaurant Monday said they couldn’t believe the driver left the scene along Conover Boulevard.
“It’s pitiful. It’s just cruel,” Emily Drum, an employee at the restaurant told Channel 9. “It’s just sad.”
The restaurant’s owner, Thao Spencer, agreed with Drum and thought the driver should’ve stopped.
Investigators also said they plan on meeting with the district attorney before deciding on any charges in the case.
Check wsoctv.com for updates.
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