Cyclist, 61, killed and Durham County deputy injured in highway hit-and-run incident
A Wake Forest man faces nearly a dozen charges after authorities say he fatally struck a bicyclist and rammed a sheriff’s patrol car Sunday as he tried to get away.
Blake Nichols Grady, 33, is charged with felony death by a motor vehicle and felony hit and run in the death of 61-year-old Cheryl Rolla Larobardier of Durham, who died at Duke Hospital from her injuries.
Grady was also charged with driving while a license is suspended/impaired/revoked, driving while impaired and other offenses, according to the Durham County Sheriff’s Office and the State Highway Patrol.
The incident began around 11:30 a.m. when a deputy in the 5300 block of N.C. 98 (Wake Forest Highway) saw a black Dodge Challenger strike a cyclist, a news release stated.
The driver fled the scene and kept going east on N.C. 98, the release stated.
The deputy pursued the driver, who then rammed into a second, responding deputy’s car.
The driver kept going until he lost control of his car, and the Challenger flipped onto its roof in a yard on South Mineral Springs Road.
He then got out of the overturned car and briefly ran until he was caught.
Grady and a deputy injured during Sunday’s pursuit were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, the release stated.
Grady was then taken to the Durham County jail under $850,000 bail pending a court hearing Monday, the release stated
Suspect has prior convictions
In addition to the offenses listed above, Grady was charged with failure to maintain lane control, careless and reckless driving, felony fleeing and eluding, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon against a government official, felony assault with physical injury to law enforcement and resisting a public officer, officials said.
In 2017, he was convicted of multiple driving-related offenses, including speeding and reckless driving and had his driver’s license revoked, records show.
