Driver Charged with DUI in Death of Cyclist

A Park Ridge man was ordered held on $100,000 bail Saturday after he was charged for allegedly hitting and killing a bicyclist Wednesday while drunk driving, police said.

Robert “Bobby” Cann was killed around 6:35 p.m. Wednesday in the 1300 block of North Clybourn Avenue in Old Town after a Mercedes sedan struck him while he was riding his bike, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Cann, who was reportedly on his way home from working at Groupon, was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead an hour later, according to Chicago Police news affairs.

The driver, Ryne San Hamel, 28, was charged Friday with felony aggravated driving under the influence involving a death, reckless homicide and other misdemeanor charges, police said. He is scheduled to appear in court again Monday.

San Hamel failed a sobriety test, had an blood alcohol content of .127, and was going 50 mph-- 20 mph over the area's speed limit, prosecutors said Saturday.

Several bikers Friday in Chicago's Critical Mass ride, which takes place on the last Friday of every month, honored the 26-year-old cyclist by adding a stop at the site of the crash near Clybourn Avenue and Larrabee Street, according to a map of the route.

Chicago currently has 31 miles of buffered and barrier-protected bike lanes, according to Etan Potts from the Active Transportation Alliance, but the area where Cann was struck was not one of them.

Recently, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans to roll out a new bike sharing program, offering 4,000 three-speed cruisers at kiosks across the city and encouraging more biking in Chicago.

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