A Salem, Wisconsin, man accused of fatally running over a cyclist and leaving the scene was reportedly turned in by his wife.
WITI reports that Ryan Peterson, 39, was charged with hit-and-run resulting in death and homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle in connection with the death of Jackie Hutcheson Jr., 29. Prosecutors said Peterson admitted to drinking a few beers before and after Saturday’s crash.
While leaving his brother’s home, Peterson allegedly hit Hutcheson from behind as he drove on the gravel shoulder. Authorities accused Peterson making it home and finishing watching the Packers game as if nothing happened.
“A passerby found a bike on its side. He was ejected from the bicycle. No skid marks. We have no indication at this time how fast the vehicle was driving,” Mark Malecki with the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department revealed.
It wasn’t until a day after the crash that the suspect’s wife, Trisha, contacted police. According to Kenosha News, Trisha told a deputy at the high school she worked at that her husband claimed he had hit a deer around the same time and on the same road the cyclist was killed.
Peterson arrived home and allegedly showed his wife the damaged Volvo. From there, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Burgoyne said the pair “pulled an Acura out of their garage and put the Volvo in the garage so that anyone investigating would not be able to see the damage.”
The Salem man isn’t facing operating while intoxicated (OWI) charges because authorities apprehended him 16 hours after the crash. The lapse of time means that a blood test wouldn’t determine whether he was driving drunk Sunday night.
“We’ll never know [if Peterson was driving drunk] because Mr. Peterson did not stop,” Court Commissioner David Berman said in court.
Hutcheson’s cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head, WITI also reports.
“I appreciate he turned himself in. We have to forgive him someday so God can forgive us,” the victim’s father said outside court. “We have so much hate in our heart right now. It’s not going to be today or in the near future.”
Peterson is jailed on a $10,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 28.
[Featured Image: Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department]
