DUI suspect with record charged in death of bicyclist in race

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A suspected drunken driver is facing murder charges in the death of a bicyclist who was competing in a triathlon in Louisville on Saturday.

The 25-year-old motorist was driving the same car in which he was arrested in June for driving under the influence. He's scheduled for an Aug. 18 hearing in that case.

Dead is John Carr, 47, of Owenton. He leaves behind his wife of 11 years and their two children, aged 7 and 5. He also has two older children from a previous marriage. The widow, Sunni Carr, had been out looking for her husband when he didn't finish the race and was present when police arrested the driver, Kenneth Yates. She told a TV station:

“When I looked at him in the face, the only thing I could say to him was that 'You took the life of a man and you took the daddy of a little boy and a little girl that needed him.' “

Carr was riding the 14-mile bicycling portion of the triathlon when he was struck from behind at 8 a.m. Police directing traffic at a nearby intersection stopped the red Mitsubishi Eclipse, which still had the bicycle on the hood and windshield.

The driver broke free of police and ran home; he returned soon afterwards with his mother.

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Yates faces charges of murder, drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident, assault on a police officer, fleeing and resisting arrest, and operating a vehicle with a suspended license.

Kentucky is one of several states that have laws allowing authorities to confiscate a DUI offender's vehicles, although this tactic is usually reserved for repeat offenders. Suspending a driver's license after a DUI arrest doesn't stop some people.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/08/03/dui-suspect-with-record-charged-in-death-of-bicyclist-in-race/

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