Driver Who Claimed He Hit a Deer Charged After Killing Colorado Triathlon Trainee

Jamie Gardner, 53, struck and killed cyclist Arthur Williams near Aurora, CO, then left the scene, later telling police he thought he had hit a deer.

Aurora Driver Charged After Fatal Hit-and-Run — Told Police He Thought Victim Was a Deer

A 53-year-old Aurora, Colorado man has been charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death after striking and killing a bicyclist with his Subaru Outback and driving away, Law & Crime reports. Jamie Gardner later told investigators he was certain he had only hit a deer.

The victim, 26-year-old Arthur Williams, was riding southbound on Powhaton Road — approximately a quarter-mile north of East Jewell Avenue — when he was struck from behind at around 12:04 a.m. on July 27. A passerby found him unresponsive in the road near South Powhaton Road and East Jewell Avenue at about 9:30 a.m. that same morning. Emergency medical personnel pronounced Williams dead at the scene.

The stretch of road where the collision occurred has no street lighting and only narrow shoulders. Video footage from a nearby natural gas facility captured the moment of impact, showing one of the Subaru's passenger-side headlights going out on contact. The vehicle did not stop or deviate from its path.

Camera technology breaks the case open

Investigators initially had no witnesses and no established time frame. Evidence collected at the scene allowed police to release an image of a white Subaru Outback and ask the public for information about the vehicle's direction of travel.

Detectives with the Aurora Police Department's Intelligence Unit then turned to Flock Safety cameras — automated license plate readers — to track the vehicle. Footage captured a white Subaru Outback with extensive damage leaving a subdivision near South Harvest Road on the morning of July 28. The camera recorded the license plate, leading detectives directly to Gardner.

Investigators also reviewed video showing Williams leaving his home with his bicycle at approximately 9:20 p.m. on July 26, which helped narrow the time frame for when the fatal collision occurred.

"I thought it was a deer"

When detectives contacted Gardner, he confirmed ownership of the Subaru and said it was at an auto body shop because he had "hit a deer." He recalled the incident occurring at around 12:02 a.m. and said he had been driving home from the airport after finishing work.

Gardner told investigators he was "stone sober" and believed something had walked in front of his vehicle. He said he did not stop because he thought he had struck a deer — and noted he had previously hit one in the same area.

When detectives informed him that he had struck a person, Gardner became "visibly upset," according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Denver NBC affiliate KUSA. He said he saw it "out of the corner of my eye," before stating, "I thought it was a deer." Gardner was reportedly adamant that he would have stopped had he known a person was involved.

Aurora police took Gardner into custody last week. He has been charged with one count of felony leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Gardner was released after posting $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing on September 8.

"We want justice"

Williams' father, Troy Williams, told Denver ABC affiliate KMGH that his son had been training for his first triathlon and had previously played lacrosse before deciding to join the military.

"I want to be clear: we want justice, but I can't hold hatred and anger in my heart," Troy Williams said. "I have to live with the pain, but I'm not going to live in the pain."

Source: Law & Crime