Cops Disgusted; Drunk Kills Two Cross-Country Cyclists

Joshua Tree Natl. Park, California - 8/4/2003

KNBC-TV, Los Angeles

A drunken driver was arrested for investigation of murder in the death
of two bicyclists who were beginning a 30-day coast-to-coast trek,
authorities said Monday.

Raymond Moore, 72, of Anaheim, and Lyle Rosser Jr., 60, or Reseda,
were killed early Sunday on a desert highway near Joshua Tree National
Park.

Police later booked Robert James Boyd, 29, of San Bernardino for
investigation of murder. He was being held without bail.

Boyd was legally drunk three hours after the collision, said Cpl.
Steve Spear of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Boyd was booked on suspicion of murder, rather than gross vehicular
manslaughter, because he showed "wantonness and conscious disregard"
when he hit the bicyclists, Spear said.

As Boyd was on the phone with his girlfriend, Spear said, he allegedly
asked, "'What are these two people doing in the road?"' It wasn't
clear whether the exchange occurred before or after the collision.

"I have never seen anything like this in 13 years," Spear said. "The
conscious disregard either before striking two human beings or after
.... it's beyond me."

Police got a call at 1:15 a.m. Sunday from a passing driver who saw a
man lying on the road. Another man was found about 45 feet away in a
gully.

Moore was pronounced dead at the scene. Rosser died from his injuries
at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs about an hour later.

As authorities were at the scene of the crash, a 911 caller reported a
man with a seriously damaged vehicle, leading deputies to Boyd.

Before the crash, Boyd had apparently been at a party, where several
people tried to prevent him from leaving. He pushed them out of the
way and forcibly took the car keys, authorities said.

After the collision, he returned to the party and went to sleep, Spear
said.

The avid bicyclists had left home Saturday morning and were starting
the desert leg of their 30-day trip. They were pushing their bikes
uphill on Highway 62 when they were hit.

Moore's wife of 44 years, Linda, said her husband had trained with his
longtime friend for months, putting in 100-mile rides every weekend.

Moore, a retired elementary school teacher, had biked to Illinois and
Kentucky by himself in the past 15 years. This ride was supposed to be
his final trip.

"I did not think anything like this could happen. The family worried
.... But we worried about the desert and the heat," Linda Moore told
the Orange County Register. "It is horrible that someone would go on
after hitting them."



Ken (NY)
Chairman,
Department Of Redundancy Department
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