A bicyclist struck by a Santa Clarita driver Aug. 26 in Lancaster has died.
Nathaniel Rippee, 32, of Lancaster, and his wife, Deborah Rippee, 33, were participating in an organized Saturday-morning bike ride when a PT Cruiser and a Honda Odyssey collided in the intersection of Avenue L and 4th Street East. The force of the collision pushed the Odyssey into the cyclists.
Nathaniel Rippee sustained major head trauma and was hospitalized. Deborah Rippee suffered a broken shoulder and was examined and released from the hospital.
Sunday at 10:25 a.m., Nathaniel Rippee succumbed to his injures at Antelope Valley Hospital, said Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
No charges have been filed against either motorist because no determination has yet been made as to which one was at fault.
Lancaster Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Dunn said both drivers – 43-year-old Nikki Fuzell of Palmdale in the PT Cruiser and 42-year-old Guizla Morales of Valencia in the Odyssey – told deputies the traffic light was green when they entered the intersection.
One driver wasn’t being truthful, Dunn said, but so far, he has no way to know which one.
“One didn’t have a green light,” he said.
There were “a bunch of people” at the scene, Dunn said, but few have come forward as witnesses – and those few have offered little useful information.
Without fresh witnesses to shed light on the morning’s events, “it’s possible we may never know who was at fault,” the traffic sergeant said.
Witnesses to the collision that occurred in Lancaster on Saturday, Aug. 26, at about 8 a.m., are asked to call Dunn or Deputy Richard Dailey at the Lancaster sheriff’s office, 661-948-8466.
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