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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A South Salt Lake man remained hospitalized in extremely critical condition Friday after being hit on his bicycle by an alleged drunk driver late Thursday.
Police say the driver had a blood-alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit.
Just after 11 p.m., a man was riding his bike on 900 West near 3160 South, when a Saturn vehicle came up from behind and hit him, said South Salt Lake detective Gary Keller.
The cyclist, 50, hit the windshield. He suffered severe head, neck and back injuries and was taken to a local hospital in "grave" condition, Keller said. His name has not yet been released.
The driver, Peter Vance Wilcox, 36, of Syracuse, was given field sobriety tests and failed, Keller said. The officer who booked Wilcox into jail noted in a report that he was "obviously intoxicated."
Wilcox, who smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, and had slurred and slow speech, admitted he had been drinking prior to the accident, according to the Salt Lake County Jail report.
During a breath test, his blood-alcohol content registered at 0.228, the report states, or nearly three times the legal limit.
Wilcox was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of DUI causing serious bodily injury. He could face vehicular homicide charges if the bicyclist dies.
Court records show Wilcox was convicted twice in the late 1990s of misdemeanor charges of being a minor in possession of alcohol.
