A man accused of driving drunk, fatally striking a 75-year-old bicyclist in Solana Beach, then fleeing the scene, pleaded not guilty Friday to felony charges.
Lucas Beau Morgans, 21, is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run causing death and DUI counts in connection with the June 22 death of Allen Hunter II.
Hunter was struck from behind around 10:30 a.m. while riding on Highway 101, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office. He was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where he died that evening.
Morgans, who faces 16 years in prison if convicted of all charges, was arrested later that day.
Prosecutors allege he had a blood-alcohol-content of .169% about 90 minutes after the crash.
Morgans remains out of custody on $300,000 bail following Friday’s arraignment. A judge ordered him to attend a residential treatment program while out of custody or to install an alcohol-monitoring device in his car immediately upon release or completion of the program.
One day after Hunter was killed, another cyclist — 34-year-old Swati Tyagi — was fatally struck in La Jolla. Their deaths on consecutive days led local cycling activists to call for improved countywide safety measures such as protected bikeways and other infrastructure centered on bike and pedestrian safety.
