SAN JOSE — A pickup truck driver reportedly ran a red light and hit and killed a bicyclist at a busy city intersection Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The fatal collision was reported at 7:23 a.m. when a man driving a red Chevrolet Silverado heading west on East Capitol Expressway drove through the intersection at Senter Road and hit a northbound bicyclist, San Jose police told reporters assembled near the crash site.
The bicyclist, also a man, died at the scene. Police added that the Chevrolet driver also hit a white Ford truck afterward then tried to flee, but he was caught and arrested.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office identified the bicyclist as Qingfang Zheng, 60, of San Jose.
A privately manufactured firearm was also found on the Chevrolet driver, police said.
The Ford and Chevrolet drivers suffered minor injuries in the crash. The former was treated at the scene while the latter was treated at a hospital before being booked into Santa Clara County jail.
Police closed off a long stretch of East Capitol Expressway, between Seven Trees Boulevard and Tuers Road, for the remainder of Tuesday morning to allow traffic investigators to examine the scene. Senter Road was also closed for about a one-block radius from the intersection. The road closures were lifted just after 1 p.m.
The crash marked the city’s 17th roadway death of the year, and the third involving a bicyclist who died.
Anyone with information related to the case can contact Detective Rachel Bowen of the SJPD Traffic Investigations Unit at 408-277-4654 or 4461@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 (STOP) or www.siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.
Staff writer Jason Green contributed to this report.
