Advocacy & Safety - Motorist drove home with fatally injured Grand Prairie bicyclist in back seat

Motorist drove home with fatally injured Grand Prairie bicyclist in back seat (http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1542955.html)

GRAND PRAIRIE — Drenched in blood, Vincent Paul Riojas burst through the front door of his family’s east Grand Prairie home Saturday night.

Without explanation, he rushed out again, his mother later told Grand Prairie police.

Outside, next to the house, Riojas’ mother saw his 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. It had been damaged, she told officers.

And inside, she could see a bloody man hunched over in the back seat.

"As far as she knew, her son had been involved in an altercation," Grand Prairie traffic Sgt. Eric Hansen said Monday. "After she saw the man in the back seat, she called 911. She thought the friend had been injured also."

On the way to the house, responding officers noticed a mangled blue mountain bike in front of an auto body shop in the 3400 block of East Main Street, Hansen said.

When the officers arrived at the Riojas’ home in the 400 block of Northeast 38th Street, they saw that the driver’s side of the Cavalier was crumpled and that the windshield was smashed.

Riojas’ home is less than a mile from where the mangled bike was found.

"They were able to put it together pretty fast that the vehicle had been involved in the wreck with the bike," Hansen said.

The man in the back seat was Ronnie Monroe Keller, 59, who lived in the neighborhood and rode his bike every day. He had been hit head-on by the Cavalier, police said Monday. Keller was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police arrested Riojas, 27, who was found hiding under a parked vehicle in the area.

What happened

Police believe that Riojas was drunk as he drove home about 9 p.m. Saturday. He was eastbound in the 3400 block of East Main Street and veered into the westbound lane, where Keller was riding, on a part of Main Street that veers to the left and narrows from a four-lane street to a single lane before coming to a dead end.

Investigators think the impact sent Keller’s body into the Cavalier’s windshield. Dents on the roof suggest that he tumbled over it and into the back window, where his body partially lodged.

How Keller got from the back window into the back seat is unclear, Hansen said.

"We’re not sure if [Riojas] just pulled Keller through the window or pulled him out and put him in the back seat," Hansen said. Riojas "was covered in blood, so obviously he came into physical contact with the victim."

Because Keller had been removed from the window, officers couldn’t tell which part of his body went through it.

Police are awaiting blood-test results on Riojas.

Security video from a nearby auto repair shop shows the Cavalier hitting the bicyclist at 9:04 p.m. Saturday. Police received the call from Riojas’ mother at 9:20 p.m.

Keller was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.

"It is our belief, with the seriousness of the injuries, emergency crews would have had a greater chance of saving him had [Riojas] called for help when the wreck happened," Hansen said.

Kristen Cranford, who lived with Keller, her uncle, just blocks from where the wreck occurred, said: "He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. My uncle was a real person."

Riojas remained in the Grand Prairie Jail Monday with bail set at $150,000. He faces charges of intoxication manslaughter, resisting arrest, and failure to stop and render aid. He was also wanted on an unrelated felony warrant.

Riojas was convicted of multiple drug charges in 2006 in Dallas County and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in November 2007 under supervision until Aug. 2, 2010, records show.

Great...I hope the driver burns in hell!

Good on his mother for calling the police. Saw a photo of the car this A.M., and there is absolutely no way he did not see the aftermath of the impact. The windscreen is almost totally destroyed.
Also, according to security footage, he apparently stopped, pulled the body into the backseat of his vehicle and fled the scene. Utterly despicable!

What REALLY sucks is, if that FELON was in prison serving out his sentence where he should have been, he wouldn't have had the chance to kill someone.

Dang, I honestly thought from the title that this would be a story of a motorist helping an injured cyclist. What a piece of cr*p.

That's what I was expecting too, but then I wondered why in the world anyone would be taking a -fatally- injured person to their home rather than the hospital...

I figured out what happened right away because of the nurse that had a pedestrian stuck in her windshield. She drove home and put the car in her garage. That victim lived for a week though.

That guy needs to be locked up for life. Of course he won't be. If (when) he does get out, he needs to never be issued a license again, and if ever found driving without a license, throw away the keys (this latter should be a general rule for everyone).

Unter. I remember that other case, also. Down in Texas or something, I think. Grand Prairie, where is that? Texas also?
Sheesh.
dc

http://cbs11tv.com/local/car.wreck.bicyclist.2.1132233.html

This story made the local papers up here in Michigan.

Just terrible...

From a year ago: http://cbs11tv.com/local/Mansfield.Bicyclists.Killed.2.743387.html

We need to get harder on crime in this country; the whole Western World is too afraid to blame people for their own actions, blaming sociological factors instead. Know what capital punishment is good for? Removing members of society who are a detriment to its function. It really ought to be applied more liberally, if anything. Those who commit violent (or at least premeditated) crimes should get zero second chances.

We could easily dispose of felons by shooting them in the face, rolling them into a ditch, and billing their families for the trouble. I'm only half-joking.

Motorist drove home with fatally injured Grand Prairie bicyclist in back seat (http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1542955.html)

GRAND PRAIRIE — Drenched in blood, Vincent Paul Riojas burst through the front door of his family’s east Grand Prairie home Saturday night.

Without explanation, he rushed out again, his mother later told Grand Prairie police.

Outside, next to the house, Riojas’ mother saw his 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. It had been damaged, she told officers.

And inside, she could see a bloody man hunched over in the back seat.

"As far as she knew, her son had been involved in an altercation," Grand Prairie traffic Sgt. Eric Hansen said Monday. "After she saw the man in the back seat, she called 911. She thought the friend had been injured also."

On the way to the house, responding officers noticed a mangled blue mountain bike in front of an auto body shop in the 3400 block of East Main Street, Hansen said.

When the officers arrived at the Riojas’ home in the 400 block of Northeast 38th Street, they saw that the driver’s side of the Cavalier was crumpled and that the windshield was smashed.

Riojas’ home is less than a mile from where the mangled bike was found.

"They were able to put it together pretty fast that the vehicle had been involved in the wreck with the bike," Hansen said.

The man in the back seat was Ronnie Monroe Keller, 59, who lived in the neighborhood and rode his bike every day. He had been hit head-on by the Cavalier, police said Monday. Keller was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police arrested Riojas, 27, who was found hiding under a parked vehicle in the area.

What happened

Police believe that Riojas was drunk as he drove home about 9 p.m. Saturday. He was eastbound in the 3400 block of East Main Street and veered into the westbound lane, where Keller was riding, on a part of Main Street that veers to the left and narrows from a four-lane street to a single lane before coming to a dead end.

Investigators think the impact sent Keller’s body into the Cavalier’s windshield. Dents on the roof suggest that he tumbled over it and into the back window, where his body partially lodged.

How Keller got from the back window into the back seat is unclear, Hansen said.

"We’re not sure if [Riojas] just pulled Keller through the window or pulled him out and put him in the back seat," Hansen said. Riojas "was covered in blood, so obviously he came into physical contact with the victim."

Because Keller had been removed from the window, officers couldn’t tell which part of his body went through it.

Police are awaiting blood-test results on Riojas.

Security video from a nearby auto repair shop shows the Cavalier hitting the bicyclist at 9:04 p.m. Saturday. Police received the call from Riojas’ mother at 9:20 p.m.

Keller was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.

"It is our belief, with the seriousness of the injuries, emergency crews would have had a greater chance of saving him had [Riojas] called for help when the wreck happened," Hansen said.

Kristen Cranford, who lived with Keller, her uncle, just blocks from where the wreck occurred, said: "He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. My uncle was a real person."

Riojas remained in the Grand Prairie Jail Monday with bail set at $150,000. He faces charges of intoxication manslaughter, resisting arrest, and failure to stop and render aid. He was also wanted on an unrelated felony warrant.

Riojas was convicted of multiple drug charges in 2006 in Dallas County and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in November 2007 under supervision until Aug. 2, 2010, records show.

I hope he gets Life W/O Parole!!!:mad:

Wow, with that much evidence stacked up against the driver he might just end up having to actually pay a ticket... maybe.

There are some who say that drug offenses are victimless crimes and those caught committing them shouldn't be put into prison. I'm ok with that but being caught under the influence of any drug and behind the wheel of any vehicle should be a life sentence without parole. It would make people think twice. This *** deserves everything that the law can throw at him.

Riojas is obviously a loser and a menace to society. I would vote for life in prison without parole, but I suspect he'll be back out on the streets in 5 to 10 years.

Thankfully the last woman to do something like this got 50 years +10. It's Texas, between them and us here in Florida we're doing our best to end the lives of criminals. Whether it's through capital punishment or mainly just cops abusing power. Ha

This is so horrific that it is really hard to wrap my mind around it. I would think that Vehicular Homicide would be a more fitting charge. I hope that the DA looks for every possible charge and that the judge and jury give this monster every last second of time that can be thrown at him.

We lost 8 or 9 cyclists in the DFW area within a couple of months of each other last year. This year had been so much better with a couple of notable exceptions. We have a bill for vulnerable road users that is being bounced around the legislation. Perhaps this tragedy can at least shed some light on this issue and help push it forward.

That's what I was expecting too, but then I wondered why in the world anyone would be taking a -fatally- injured person to their home rather than the hospital...

The kind that violated his probation three ways, then commits a fourth and actually a fifth offense.

1.) He was drunk, terms of probation for almost all substance based offenses requires the parolee to stay sober.

2.) He was driving drunk, automatic revocation of parol, since another term of the parol is that parolees must not be involved in a criminal offense.

3.) He commited vehicular homicide, see number two for reason this is bad.

4.) He left the scene of an accident with property damage, see number two for reason this is bad.

5.) They could get him for evading the police, since he was hiding under a car when they arrived.

Don't forget that he also failed to alert police or an ambulance but instead dragged an uninjured person into the backseat of the car and didn't even attempt to go to a hospital or doctor.

That's can be counter as manslaughter unto itself, even if he wasn't the one who hit the cyclist originally (which he obviously was).

My stomach turned reading this. Just horrible and despicable! I hope that guy gets life in prison without parole...

My sympathies and condolences to the cyclists' family. :(

Why did he drive home, run in the house ... then run out?

We need to get harder on crime in this country; the whole Western World is too afraid to blame people for their own actions, blaming sociological factors instead. Know what capital punishment is good for? Removing members of society who are a detriment to its function. It really ought to be applied more liberally, if anything. Those who commit violent (or at least premeditated) crimes should get zero second chances.

We could easily dispose of felons by shooting them in the face, rolling them into a ditch, and billing their families for the trouble. I'm only half-joking.

About which half? ;-)

Don't forget that he also failed to alert police or an ambulance but instead dragged an uninjured person into the backseat of the car and didn't even attempt to go to a hospital or doctor.

That's can be counter as manslaughter unto itself, even if he wasn't the one who hit the cyclist originally (which he obviously was).

I think that you meant injured not uninjured person.

Unter. I remember that other case, also. Down in Texas or something, I think. Grand Prairie, where is that? Texas also?
Sheesh.
dc

In the no-mans land between Dallas and Ft Worth

Why did he put the cyclist in his car if it wasn't to take him to the hospital??? Why not just leave him lie there? Then he may not've gotten caught.

Once the locals sentence him, the FEDS should convict him of kidnapping as well.

Prisons cost the taxpayer too much money. Amputation of arms (and perhaps head) would take care of the problem.

Motorist drove home with fatally injured Grand Prairie bicyclist in back seat (http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1542955.html)

GRAND PRAIRIE — Drenched in blood, Vincent Paul Riojas burst through the front door of his family’s east Grand Prairie home Saturday night.

Without explanation, he rushed out again, his mother later told Grand Prairie police.

Outside, next to the house, Riojas’ mother saw his 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. It had been damaged, she told officers.

And inside, she could see a bloody man hunched over in the back seat.

"As far as she knew, her son had been involved in an altercation," Grand Prairie traffic Sgt. Eric Hansen said Monday. "After she saw the man in the back seat, she called 911. She thought the friend had been injured also."

On the way to the house, responding officers noticed a mangled blue mountain bike in front of an auto body shop in the 3400 block of East Main Street, Hansen said.

When the officers arrived at the Riojas’ home in the 400 block of Northeast 38th Street, they saw that the driver’s side of the Cavalier was crumpled and that the windshield was smashed.

Riojas’ home is less than a mile from where the mangled bike was found.

"They were able to put it together pretty fast that the vehicle had been involved in the wreck with the bike," Hansen said.

The man in the back seat was Ronnie Monroe Keller, 59, who lived in the neighborhood and rode his bike every day. He had been hit head-on by the Cavalier, police said Monday. Keller was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police arrested Riojas, 27, who was found hiding under a parked vehicle in the area.

What happened

Police believe that Riojas was drunk as he drove home about 9 p.m. Saturday. He was eastbound in the 3400 block of East Main Street and veered into the westbound lane, where Keller was riding, on a part of Main Street that veers to the left and narrows from a four-lane street to a single lane before coming to a dead end.

Investigators think the impact sent Keller’s body into the Cavalier’s windshield. Dents on the roof suggest that he tumbled over it and into the back window, where his body partially lodged.

How Keller got from the back window into the back seat is unclear, Hansen said.

"We’re not sure if [Riojas] just pulled Keller through the window or pulled him out and put him in the back seat," Hansen said. Riojas "was covered in blood, so obviously he came into physical contact with the victim."

Because Keller had been removed from the window, officers couldn’t tell which part of his body went through it.

Police are awaiting blood-test results on Riojas.

Security video from a nearby auto repair shop shows the Cavalier hitting the bicyclist at 9:04 p.m. Saturday. Police received the call from Riojas’ mother at 9:20 p.m.

Keller was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.

"It is our belief, with the seriousness of the injuries, emergency crews would have had a greater chance of saving him had [Riojas] called for help when the wreck happened," Hansen said.

Kristen Cranford, who lived with Keller, her uncle, just blocks from where the wreck occurred, said: "He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. My uncle was a real person."

Riojas remained in the Grand Prairie Jail Monday with bail set at $150,000. He faces charges of intoxication manslaughter, resisting arrest, and failure to stop and render aid. He was also wanted on an unrelated felony warrant.

Riojas was convicted of multiple drug charges in 2006 in Dallas County and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in November 2007 under supervision until Aug. 2, 2010, records show.

I hope he is in prison for life!!:mad:

I hope he rots. Miserably.

I would think that Vehicular Homicide would be a more fitting charge.

In Texas, Intoxication Manslaughter is a Class 2 Felony (2 - 20 years). Vehicular Homicide is usually a misdemeanor.


Once the locals sentence him, the FEDS should convict him of kidnapping as well.

Too bad it's not a Federal issue. And it's not kidnapping...