The driver the vehicle was charged. Newspaper article follows:



Man charged in hit-and-run
2006-08-12
by Anna C. Irwin
of The Daily Times Staff

The man at the wheel of a pickup truck that struck and killed a bicyclist Wednesday has been charged with criminal homicide.

Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp said Tommy Lee Carroll, 46, Vinegar Valley Road, Friendsville, was notified Friday that a warrant had been obtained by traffic investigators.

``He came in around 5 p.m. to face the charge,'' Crisp said.

Records at the Blount County Jail show Carroll was booked at 7:24 p.m. and released on a $75,000 bond at 8:45 p.m. A hearing is set at 9 a.m. Aug. 15 in Blount County General Sessions Court.

The bicyclist -- 48-year-old Jeffrey Edward Roth -- was riding on the shoulder of West Lamar Alexander Parkway near North Union Grove Road when Carroll's 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck left the road and struck the bicycle. Witnesses said the truck crossed into the eastbound lanes and kept traveling toward Friendsville, leaving the crumpled bicycle and critically injured rider on the roadway.

Carroll's truck sideswiped another pickup truck and was stopped when the driver of a larger utility truck intentionally maneuvered into his path in the eastbound lanes and was struck head-on.

Roth died at University of Tennessee Medical Center where he was flown by Lifestar medical helicopter.

Carroll was taken to Blount Memorial Hospital by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service. A blood sample was taken for toxicology testing, then Carroll refused treatment and left the emergency room.

Crisp said his officers impounded Carroll's truck and interviewed him as well as several other witnesses to the series of accidents spread over a three-mile stretch of West Lamar Alexander Parkway. Once the investigation was completed, the District Attorney General's Office advised the accident investigators of possible charges that might be filed against Carroll. The warrant was drawn and Carroll was notified, then surrendered.