Charges Filed Against Driver in Bicyclist’s Death

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Joan Colvin and her late husband, John.
Joan Colvin and her late husband, John, at last year’s Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges against a 20-year-old Emerald Bay resident over a collision eight months ago that caused the death of a bicyclist and sparked a protest rally at Laguna Beach City Hall.

Dylan Randluby was charged Wednesday with felony hit and run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in the June 17, 2014, death of Laguna Beach resident John Colvin, says a statement from prosecutors and police. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison, says a statement from prosecutors.

Randluby, 19 at the time and driving northbound on North Coast Highway near Emerald Bay, allegedly veered out of his lane and struck Colvin, pedaling northbound in the bike lane adjacent to the road, said a statement from Laguna Beach police, though investigators have not disclosed why the motorist made the tragic maneuver.

Randluby did not render aid, but fled the scene and continued to drive northbound by leaning out the window to see because his front windshield was shattered, according to two witnesses that followed the damaged car, Capt. Jason Kravetz said in a statement.

The witnesses pursued Randluby’s Toyota Prius more than a mile until he finally pulled over in the El Morro School parking lot where they confronted him, Kravetz said. One detained Randluby while a second called 911, he said. Colvin died at the scene from a lacerated liver, prosecutors said.

Following an investigation Kravetz described as “thorough and exhaustive,” police submitted the case to prosecutors seeking criminal charges.

Prosecutors will ask that Randluby be held on $50,000 bail at his arraignment on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach to answer the charges. Phone calls for comment left at the Randluby home were not immediately returned on Thursday.

On the day of his death, Colvin, 55, was training for his second Ironman triathlon, said his widow, Joan, who ran the Surf City Marathon this past Sunday in his honor. She could not be immediately reached for comment.

Colvin and her two daughters led a street-safety protest last July in Laguna Beach that prompted renewed efforts to reduce bicyclist and pedestrian accidents and improve crosswalk safety.

In 2014, two pedestrians and a cyclist died in Laguna Beach as a result of collisions with cars and another 28 pedestrians were injured, an accident rate significantly higher than in 2012. Then, with one fatality and 19 car-pedestrian accidents, Laguna was ranked as the most dangerous of 109 cities of comparable size in the state, according to the most recent figures available from the state Office of Traffic Safety.

 

 

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