A man has been charged in a hit-and-run that killed a Strathroy father who was riding his bicycle on a rural road on Thanksgiving Monday.
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A man has been charged in a hit-and-run that killed a Strathroy father who was riding his bicycle on a rural road on Thanksgiving Monday.
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Middesex OPP said Friday that Frederick Earhart, 51, of Brooke-Alvinston is charged with failing to stop at an accident resulting in death. He was arrested Thursday and held in custody for a bail hearing scheduled for Friday, police said.
Johannes Smolders, a 45-year-old father of two, was cycling in the evening on Oct. 11 on Calvert Drive, southwest of Strathroy, when he was hit and knocked off his bike, police said. He died at the scene.
Smolders was survived by his wife and two children. He volunteered with several organizations, including the Scouts, the Kerwood Optimist Club and local soccer clubs .
Following the crash, police appealed to the driver to turn themselves in. A few days after the crash, police said investigators determined the vehicle that hit Smolders was an older model Dodge Dakota or Dodge Durango with damage to its front passenger side corner and headlight assembly.
Police asked auto repair shops and repair outlets to be on the lookout for a damaged vehicle matching that description, or someone coming in to buy repair parts.
In a video posted by police at Christmas, Sonia Freiter, Smolders’ widow, described the pain her husband’s death had caused the family and urged the driver to come forward.