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SALT LAKE CITY — A Syracuse man has been charged with automobile homicide in the death of a cyclist in September.
Peter Vance Wilcox, 36, was charged in 3rd District Court on Thursday with automobile homicide, a third-degree felony, in the death of Mitchell Bennett, 50. Wilcox registered a blood-alcohol level of .228 in a breath test, or nearly three times the legal limit, when police say he hit Bennett's bicycle on Sept. 25.
Police believe Wilcox hit Bennett heading north on 900 West near 3160 South as he was riding side-by-side with another cyclist. Wilcox's vehicle apparently dragged the bicycle "several hundred feet" before stopping, charges state. The bike was found with its rear tire still wedged beneath the bumper of the vehicle, the lights on its rear-lighting system still flashing.
Bennett hit the windshield, suffering severe head, neck and back injuries. He died at the hospital on Sept. 30.
Wilcox abandoned his vehicle after the crash and was spotted walking away by Bennett's cycling companion, charges state. When police confronted him, he initially claimed the vehicle wasn't his.
Court records show Wilcox was convicted twice in the late 1990s of misdemeanor charges of being a minor in possession of alcohol.