Bicyclist killed in Hancock County crash; driver arrested

Bicyclist killed in Hancock County crash; driver arrested

Sierra Hignite | News 8 at 4

GREENFIELD Ind. (WISH) — One person is dead following a crash in Hancock County.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said a car and a bicycle collided just before 11 a.m. Wednesday near 1500 W. County Road 300 North. That’s about 2 miles northwest of Greenfield.

The bicyclist, Rodger Wellenreiter, 76, of Greenfield, was pronounced dead on the scene.

Robert Terry (Provided Photo/Hancock County Jail)

Investigators said Wellenreiter and the driver of the vehicle were both headed westward when the bicyclist was struck from behind.

Investigators said the driver, Robert Terry, 40, of Greenfield, was intoxicated. He remained on the scene and was arrested for operating while intoxicated causing death and driving while suspended causing death. Both charges are felonies.

In 2002 and 2010 Terry plead guilty to OWI charges. Since then he has been charged multiple times with driving while suspended and with public intoxication.

Maj. Robert Campbell with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department says collisions like this are rare in the area.

“It is not common for us to have collisions because we do not have a lot of traffic in our rural areas,” explained Maj. Campbell.

Cyclists in Hancock County like Nancy Tibbet with Bicycle Indiana are upset by the details of the crash.

“It is so frustrating and this is the second fatality in Hancock County in 30 days,” Tibbet said.

The Sheriff’s Department is reminding drivers to give cyclists at least three feet when passing, that is a new law that went into effect this year in Indiana.

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