Katy, Texas: Bicyclist Riding to Work Killed in Hit-and-Run on Pitts Road, Driver Charged

A woman in her early 20s who was riding her bicycle to work in Katy was killed late Sunday night when an SUV struck her on Pitts Road, and the driver now faces a charge of failure to stop and render aid, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said.

What deputies say happened on Pitts Road

Deputies were called at about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 8, to Pitts Road near Clay Road in west Harris County after reports of a severe crash. Investigators said the woman was riding her bicycle to her job at a local convenience store when an SUV hit her near the 4100 block of Pitts Road.

An off duty Harris County sheriff's deputy was at a nearby gas station when he noticed an SUV with heavy front end damage. The driver told him she had hit something in the road, according to Deputy Anderson of the sheriff's office. The off duty deputy went to check the roadway and found the woman lying in the road as other deputies and emergency crews arrived. Responding deputies began CPR, but paramedics pronounced the woman dead at the scene.

Driver left the gas station, then was taken into custody

Deputies said another vehicle arrived at the gas station and picked up the SUV driver, and she rode away from the parking lot. Deputies traced her to a nearby home and took her into custody without further incident. Investigators are also looking into the person who picked the driver up, to determine whether that person may face charges, Click2Houston reported.

The driver was charged with failure to stop and render aid, Deputy Anderson said. Deputies said she showed no signs of intoxication and has been cooperating with investigators. The sheriff's office has not released the identity of the woman who died or of the driver, and the investigation is continuing.

A short work trip that families across Katy recognize

The ride she was taking is a familiar one in the Katy area: a short trip on a local road to a convenience store job on a Sunday night. Pitts Road runs through neighborhoods where shift workers, students and store staff share the same lanes with fast moving traffic after dark. Nothing in the sheriff's account so far explains why the driver kept going after the crash, and deputies have not said what speed or lighting may have played a part. Those answers sit with investigators now, along with the question of charges for the person who drove the driver away from the gas station.

For drivers in west Harris County, the case carries the rule Texas law puts on every crash: stop, check on the person who was hit and call for help. The woman on the bicycle did not get that help in time from the driver who struck her. She got it instead from an off duty deputy who noticed a damaged SUV at a gas station and went back to look at the road.