Bicyclist struck and killed by driver in Irwindale

A man is in custody and facing a murder charge Wednesday after he fatally struck a bicyclist in Irwindale while evading police in a stolen vehicle.

The crash was reported around 8:31 p.m. Tuesday near Arrow Highway and Rivergrade Road, near the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area, Irwindale Police Department Sgt. Diego Cornejo told City News Service.

After hitting the victim, the suspect drove away from the scene, abandoned the vehicle  and ran away. Witnesses alerted Irwindale police to the suspect's location and officers arrested him shortly thereafter, Cornejo said.

Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel arrived at the scene and pronounced the victim -- a man whose age was not immediately available -- dead.

According Cornejo, the El Monte Police Department informed Irwidale that earlier the suspect was involved in allegedly stealing a car from a Toyota dealership in El Monte. El Monte police were in pursuit of the suspect as he drove from El Monte into Irwindale, but had called off the pursuit before the suspect fatally struck the bicyclist.

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Cornejo said the suspect was booked into the West Covina Jail on a murder charge.

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