KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — The man suspected in Cooper Township’s bicycle tragedy will stand trial.
The case against Charles Pickett Jr. was presented in brief. After hearing from a succession of witnesses at his preliminary hearing, District Judge Vincent Westra ordered the 50-year-old Battle Creek man bound over to stand trial on 14 counts, several of which could result in life in prison if he is convicted.
Several people, including the first officer on the scene and paramedics, testified that Pickett appeared to be incoherent, fighting to stay conscious and keep his balance after the June 7 crash.
Other witnesses testified about his erratic driving around the Kalamazoo area prior to allegedly crashing into the nine members of the Chain Gang bicycle club on North Westnedge Avenue.
But most telling was a video of Pickett, taken by a first responder in the back of the ambulance who wanted to document just how and intoxicated he was.
Judge Vincent C. Westra specifically ordered him to be tried on five counts of second-degree murder, five counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing injury.
The four survivors were all present for the hearing and will apparently testify at trial. No date for that trial has been scheduled.
Pickett is being held without bond in the Kalamazoo County Jail.
The unusually high death toll in the case triggered the first National Transportation Safety Board investigation of a vehicle-bicycle crash in decades. Final results are pending.
The case has also spun off both local ordnances and triggered the introduction of new state laws to further protect the safety of cyclists. The bills have cleared the state Senate and are awaiting action in the House.
