A Cheshire man accused of driving away from a fatal Shelton crash fessed up to cops after learning he went to church with the Ansonia cyclist killed in the collision, according to an arrest warrant.
The suspect, 36-year-old Ryder Kingsley, had also called 911 to alert police and paramedics to the crash — before allegedly fleeing.
Kingsley turned himself in to police Friday (Sept. 2) after a detective had obtained a warrant charging him with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and evading responsibility.
Police believe Kingsley was behind the wheel of a Honda Civic that collided with Brian Climis, a 55-year-old bicycling enthusiast from Ansonia, about 7:40 a.m. Dec. 23, 2015 in the area of 504 Bridgeport Ave.
Climis’ skull and spine were fractured. Paramedics rushed him to Bridgeport Hospital, but he died there on Christmas Day.
According to an arrest warrant written by Detective John Hubyk, police responding to the crash initially found no evidence that a car had collided with Climis.
“The (bicycle’s) front tire was blown out and the front rim was broken,” the warrant says. “The front forks of the bicycle were broken at the neck of the frame. There were no marks or other signs that the bicycle had come into contact with a motor vehicle.”
Cops theorized that Climis went over the handlebars after his bike struck a curb on the side of the road.
The warrant said Climis was wearing a helmet and bright orange reflective clothing at the time of the crash.
Article continues after map of the area.
On the day of the crash police put out a press release with a request that any witnesses reach out to investigators.
One did — a delivery driver who was at a nearby business the morning of the collision.
The delivery driver told police he had just made a delivery and was about to turn onto Bridgeport Avenue when he heard a thud, then saw Climis lying on the ground with his bicycle on the grass next to him.
About 50 feet past Climis a car stopped and a man got out and walked toward Climis, then “made a gesture with his hands on his head” and jogged back to the car, the delivery driver told police.
Detectives then set up an interview to get a statement from Kingsley — after learning he had owned a car similar to the one described by the delivery driver.
’I Do Not Know If I Hit The Bicyclist’
At first, Kingsley, who was living in Shelton at the time, told police he had just stopped at Scooter’s Deli at 494 Bridgeport Ave. for a sandwich the morning of the crash and saw Climis lying on the ground after he had pulled out of the business’ parking onto Bridgeport Avenue.
The warrant says Kingsley signed a consent form allowing police to search his car.
As police put his Honda onto a flatbed tow truck, he asked to speak with Detective Hubyk alone.
Kingsley allegedly told Hubyk he “may have hit the bicyclist or caused him to run off the road and strike the curb.”
He asked police to allow him to go back to the police station to give a more accurate statement and “clear up any confusion.”
In his second statement, Kingsley told police that he had passed Climis while looking in his rearview mirror, then saw the bicyclist lying on the ground, and stopped to call 911.
Kingsley did not say whether he hit Climis or not, according to the warrant.
“When I passed the bicyclist, I saw that he may have been in the travel portion of the southbound lane of Bridgeport Ave.,” the warrant quotes him as saying. “I did turn my wheel to the left to avoid a collision with him. I do not know if I hit the bicyclist or caused him to run off the road.”
Kingsley apologized to police for driving away from the crash, saying he “made a poor decision not to wait for the police or tell them what happened.”
“I am truly sorry for what I have done,” Kingsley told police. “When I got home at the end of the day I learned from (my) wife that the bicyclist is Buzzy, a man I go to church with. I would like to say again how sorry I am about this accident.”
The warrant says Shelton police called in the state police Western District Major Crime Unit to examine Kingsley’s car, and found an area above the front wheel that appeared to have recently been wiped clean.
“Comparing this area that is wiped clean on the right front fender of Kingsley’s Honda and the saddlebag of the bicycle the clean area appears to be about the same height,” the warrant says. “This clean area is consistent and appears to have been made by the saddlebag.”
Kingsley posted $30,000 bond after his arrest and was arraigned Friday (Sept. 2) at Superior Court in Derby, where a judge continued the matter to Sept. 28.
Kingsley’s lawyer declined to comment on the case Tuesday.
