Two dead after suspected DUI driver crashes into group of 30 bicyclists out for a Halloween ride

Two people were killed and at least four more injured when a suspected drunken driver smashed into a group of cyclists taking part in an organized Halloween ride in California.The collision occurred at around 10:40 p.m. Saturday, when a gray 2021 Honda Accord collided with members of a 30-strong gathering of people on bikes, according to a statement from the Montclair Police Department. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene before abandoning his “blood-stained” car and running away, ABC 7 reports. A 25-year-old man was killed instantly and a 30-year-old woman died from her injuries in hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.Three more people were treated in hospital, one of whom is said to have suffered major injuries but remains in a stable condition, while a fourth person refused medical treatment for a minor head laceration. None of the victims have yet been named.According to KTLA 5, one of the victims was dragged over a mile by the car before being left in a residential neighborhood – a detail not mentioned in the MPD’s statement. Detectives examine a damaged car thought to have been involved in the deadly collision in Montclair in which a group of Halloween cyclists were hit by a suspected DUI driver (ABC 7)A suspect, Montclair resident Valentin Alberto Rodriguez, 38, was arrested at his home not far from the scene at around 2:40 a.m. Sunday and booked into the West Valley Detention Center, the MPD said.He has been charged with driving under the influence causing injury or death, driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher causing injury or death, felony hit-and-run involving death or serious injury, and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.Eyewitness Sarahi Palacio, a local resident, said she was unloading groceries from her own car when the incident occurred, told Fox 11: “We’ve seen a whole bunch of bicyclists coming over here, and then we heard screaming and we ran to the scene. “There was a woman on the floor, she was hyperventilating, she was on the ground, she had a head injury.”She said other people had yelled at the driver to stop.Two cyclists were killed and at least four more injured in a hit-and-run collision in Montclair, California, on Saturday night (KTLA 5)Another resident claimed to have pursued the driver in their own vehicle, telling the same network: “The bicyclists say ‘get the guy, get the guy,’ so then I got in my car and I chased him down almost towards Pomona. Then I waved down a police officer and asked him to follow me.”Asked why they had been motivated to intervene, they answered: “It’s my street. I live here, and I had my son, he’s going to grow up here. I just moved here recently and I’ve seen accidents happen.”“It’s really tragic,” another local man told KTLA 5 the following day. “There’s a lot of families that gathered here. A lot of anger. A lot of emotions kind of running wild. “We’ve never seen anything like this here in Montclair before… It’s all really going to impact our community and the families – I just feel so bad for them. It’s really, really sad.” Winni Mercado, a third Montclair resident, told ABC 7 she had heard the crash and recalled: “It was just awful. It was just awful. I know that I will never get that sound out of my head. Just feeling that pain.” Turning her thoughts to the families of the victims, Mercado added: “My heart breaks for you. I can’t fathom or imagine what they’re going through right now… on something that was so innocent. Just kids having fun. My prayers are with them.”Balloons, flowers, cards and candles have been left at a makeshift vigil for the victims at the crash site.