Suspect in deadly Goodyear bicycle group crash won't be prosecuted by Maricopa County Attorney's Office
GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The Maricopa County Attorney's Office will not prosecute a man accused of crashing into a group of bicyclists in February, killing two people and injuring 19 more.
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said Pedro Quintana Lujan will not face felony charges.
Police say Quintana Lujan was driving a truck when he plowed into the cycling club near Cotton Lane and MC 85. He claims his steering wheel locked up, and he lost control of the vehicle.
MCAO said the case would be referred back to the city of Goodyear for further review.
"The crash Quintana-Lujan caused was horrific. He took away lives and left so many more people badly injured and deeply traumatized," said Mitchell. "A team of top attorneys in my office spent months on an extensive review of the evidence in this case. Before we take any matter to court, including this one, we must determine whether the evidence supports a reasonable likelihood of conviction. We found that the evidence in this case is not sufficient to obtain a felony conviction. Yet, I am not willing to let this drop. I made the decision to refer the case to the Goodyear City Prosecutor so they may evaluate the case and make their own charging decisions."
2 dead, 17 injured after truck hits group of bicyclists in Goodyear; driver arrested
A Goodyear woman died at the scene while another man, who was visiting from Michigan, died at the hospital. Nineteen people were injured and 11 of them were taken to three different hospitals in the Valley, with at least one of them in life-threatening condition.
The county says Quintana-Lujan did not have alcohol in his system, was not speeding at the time of the crash, and was not driving distracted.
"While the defendant did have a small amount of THC (a metabolite of marijuana) in his system, Arizona law does not set a standard for proving impairment by THC only. A Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) also did a thorough examination of Quintana-Lujan, but the results of that exam were inconclusive."
Goodyear Police submit misdemeanor charges
Police submit misdemeanor charges in Goodyear crash
Police say Pedro Quintana Lujan was driving a truck that plowed into a group of bicyclists near Cotton Lane and MC85, killing two cyclists. Lujan claims his steering wheel locked up, and he lost control of the vehicle. Last month, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell dismissed any felonies against Lujan.
The Goodyear Police Department has submitted misdemeanor charges against Quintana-Lujan to the city prosecutor.