Police say they have arrested a man in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash involving a bicyclist over the weekend in Salisbury, Massachusetts.
Deven M. Tanguay, 32, of Tewksbury, is charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury collision, death resulting; motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation; motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation; unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle; and a marked lanes violation. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Newburyport District Court on Tuesday.
The fatal crash happened at around 11:16 p.m. on Folly Mill Road, Salisbury police said.
Police said Rebecca Bartczak, 39, of Amesbury, was on her bicycle and was hit by a passing pick-up truck that was carrying a small camper. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The small camper was dislodged after the crash, police said. The driver of the pickup truck fled the scene but the vehicle was located in Kensington, New Hampshire, about 30 minutes later.
On Monday, police said they obtained an arrest warrant for Tanguay and took him into custody Tuesday morning with the assistance of the Massachusetts Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and Woburn police.
Mike Bartczak, Becky's father, said Tuesday that she'd taken all the necessary precautions cyclists are supposed to take.
"She was fully lit up, the bike was lit up, helmet, had a vest on," he said. "Everything was lit up, she was doing it right."
"He just left her to die," Bartczak added. "He needs to man up. He was a coward when he ran away."
"I went over to her, checked her pulse, there was nothing," said Danielle Deveau, who lives at the home where the cyclist's body and bike ended up.
"There's no way he didn't know he hit her," said Deveau. "Her light was so bright, the noise, there's no way he didn't know."
"She was so excited about making it 25 years because the 99 would have sent her on a Disney vacation," said Mike Bartczak. "It won't happen now."
