Driver who killed 5 Michigan cyclists was "intoxicated"

The driver accused of killing five cyclists in Kalamazoo, Michigan earlier this month is alleged to have been intoxicated when he crashed into the group they were riding with, reports WATE.com.

Charles Pickett Junior was arraigned yesterday on five new counts of operating [a vehicle] while intoxicated causing death, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment.

It is not known whether the intoxication element relates to alcohol or drugs, with prosecutor Jeff Getting referring simply to “a controlled substance.”

Previously, the 50-year-old had been charged with second-degree murder, for which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment.

Besides the five cyclists killed in the incident on the evening of 7 June, four other were injured and taken to hospital.

Pickett had faced charges of reckless driving in respect of the injured victims, but that has now been amended to four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.

He had initially tried to flee the scene of the crash but was caught by police.

Earlier, emergency services in the area has received reports of a blue pick-up truck being driven “erratically” in the area.

The five people who died were Debra Ann Bradley, aged 53, Melissa Ann Fevig-Hughes, 42, Fred Anton "Tony" Nelson, 73, Lorenz John "Larry" Paulik, 74, and Suzanne Joan Sippel, 56.

They belonged to a group that met every Tuesday to go for a ride, and a week after their deaths hundreds of cyclists - including Lance Armstrong - completed the ride they had not finished seven days earlier.