[Updated March 23, 2022 — nearly two years have gone by and no prosecution has taken place at least according to records search. I have no idea why. If MCSO is not going to ever bring the felony charge, the City of Scottsdale Prosecutor’s office can and should charge the misdemeanor version — 28-672; which has a TWO year statute of limitations… TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE]
5/23/2020 Morning, eastbound Happy Valley Rd near 91st St. An SUV driver “drifted over the fog line” and killed a bicyclist, 48 y.o. Miodrag Milovanovic.
The road in this area appears to be one lane in each direction with a relatively wide shoulder (at the time of the collision; newer street views show wider);
Some areas of Happy Valley Rd have a landscaped median with very wide shoulders, other nearby areas have some uneven shoulders.
Bicyclist dies after being struck by SUV in Scottsdale on Saturday
… Milovanovic was riding eastbound on the shoulder of Happy Valley Road when an SUV, also heading eastbound, “drifted over the fog line” and struck him, said Sgt. Ben Hoster, a Scottsdale Police Department spokesperson… Impairment was determined not to be a factor in the incident, police said… This is an ongoing investigation.
Once all more serious criminal matters are ruled out; Scottsdale police should be aware the driver should be charged with 28-672 according to their statement “drifted over the fog line”. A driver who fails to keep proper lane resulting in death/serious injury is liable for that charge.
I mention this because Scottsdale has a history of not bringing this charge, for example Sean (Shawn?) McCarty was killed in Scottsdale when a driver drifted over the stripe and killed him. The driver was only cited for a civil traffic ticket and fined $420, no 28-672 charge was brought. 28-672 is NOT a serious crime, rather, it gives a judge the option of bringing meaningful corrective action to the driver’s dangerous behaviors including license suspension and even (theoretically) some jail time.
Criminal Activity
I did get a copy of the crash report (the crash form) was unable to get the police’s departmental report as of early October; I will receive it once the detectives “release” it — that it’s s still not available months after the incident indicates police have suspicion of criminal activity by the driver. The crash form indicates the driver’s license was suspended at the time. In addition to the charge mentioned above, 28-672 a misdemeanor, depending on why his license was suspended it becomes a felony (follow the link to 28-675), a class 4 or 3 felony depending on the reason for the suspension.
It was reported on ?? at clippedin.bike that Scottsdale Police are recommending a felony charge and refer to “causing death by use of a vehicle”, which presumably refers to a 28-675 charge; and notes that this will (unlike a 28-672 charge) need to come from Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Crash Report
The incident is not showing in ADOT’s crash database as of 7/1 but that’s not unusual in the case of a fatal investigation.
Ordered a copy of Scottsdale DR #20-08897 [had to call to get it though it was no problem, normally the file number in adot database is their DR number] on 9/24. Not sure if it’s available yet or not
The full crash report (ACR) reveals no surprises other than the narrative mentioning the driver’s license was suspended; which was not mentioned in the initial news coverage.
Driver: Failed to Maintain Proper Lane
Bicyclist: No Improper
I ended up calling back to records in mid-Feb. The full, DR (dept report) was emailed to me on 2/22/2021. Here is a summary:
Driver was very cooperative, voluntarily giving over his phone, and consenting to access his vehicle’s computer. A forensic report on the phone indicated no activity for a long time prior to the crash. I didn’t see an analysis of the vehicle computer but there is probably nothing to be learned there anyway.
Police found no indication of impairment.
collision was ~ 0759. The driver called 911 at 0800. The driver said he didn’t see any bicyclist before impact, he said the sun was in his eyes. He also didn’t remember seeing the other bicyclist who was ~ 50 yards behind the victim.
The driver also insisted he was driving within the lane.
“Charges will be filed for 28-675, causing a fatal crash while suspended or revoked, a Class 4 felony”.
The investigator “… located a fresh tire scuff on the shoulder approximately 12 inches outside the white line. The tire scuff was caused by the collision of the SUV with the bicycle. This was the point of impact”.
“Sunrise on this date was at 0521 hours. I arrived at the scene at 0805 hours… I was wearing polarized sunglasses. I found the sun was high in the sky and there was no issue with sun glare as I faced eastbound.”
“… I noticed small tire marks on the south side of the fog line for the East Bound traffic lane…” (i.e. to the right of the line)
The report doesn’t state the reason why suspect’s license was suspended/revoked, only that it is from out of state (the state of issue was redacted);
Police knew in their initial interview with the driver that he presented an ID card, not a license; but didn’t’ seem to question why(?), in Officer Dowlen’s interview:
Do you have a license Matthew…
Yeah I do.
… or is this just …
No, I have.
… you gave me your identification card.
It’s – I moved down here not too long ago. (Unintelligible) out of [redacted]
In any event; in the synopsis of the incident dated 7/9/2020, it was stated:
Stryer had an [redacted] Identification card and his driving priviledge was suspended / revoked out of [redacted] State.
I don’t know why the state name would be redacted(?)
One oddity in the report at the footer of the form “Incident / Investigation Report” there’s a checkbox with “no” checked for “Victim’s Rights?”. I am curious why that would be, certainly there’s a crime victim here. One other thing, also in the footer, to the right of “Status:” is redacted. I can’t imagine why that would be.
Here are the charges referred by the police:
Prosecution
The report seems to have been finalized on 7/9/2020 and was presumably transmitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s office at that time. Felony charges must go to the county, not the city prosecutor. In any event MCAO declined, the case detective wrote in an addendum to the report “On 5/18/21, I was informed that MCAO had declined prosecution in this matter and requested that I submit to the City Prosecutor’s office. 28-675 will be changed to 28-672 and long form charges will be filed with the City”
I would note that MCAO responded just a few days before the statute of limitations on a suspended driving violation would expire (1 year, right?); in any event 28-672 is two years, and as of this writing (March of 2022) has nothing has been filed — eventually the Scottsdale City Prosecutor’s office responded by email:
3/30/2022 I apologize for my delay in responding to your inquiry. As the assigned prosecutor, I reviewed this case when it was submitted for charging by Police after MCAO declined prosecution. I reviewed the evidence and determined that there was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction, which is the charging standard of our office. Sincerely, Matthew S. Mueller Supervising Assistant City Prosecutor
“Not a reasonable likelihood” is of course a catch-all, content-free explanation, requests for clarification yielded no response.
Was the driver’s license suspended or not? On the more-important 28-672 charge, there appears to be no other possible explanation other than the driver “failed to maintain proper lane” and was thereby violating 28-672, backed up by physical evidence collected by the case detective, who also happens to be a crash-reconstruction expert.
Thanks for pointing out the potentially applicable charge.
It is well established that pedestrian and bicyclists deaths pose a public health “epidemic” both locally and nationally. See links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/us/pedestrian-cyclist-deaths-traffic.html
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/pedestrian-and-cyclist-deaths-spike-federal-report-shows/
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/06/18/cyclist-and-pedestrian-deaths-skyrocket-in-2018-as-motorists-stay-safe/
Many cities in the U.S. adopt “Complete Streets” programs (e.g., Tucson) to improve safety for the most vulnerable. As part of all this, it has become obvious every aspect of local government, especially law enforcement and the prosecutors’ office, need to reevaluate how they approach the enforcement and investigation of the safe use of our public right of ways.
One more example, not that we need it, of how killing bicyclists is legal in Maricopa County.
One additional unfortunate consequence of the Pandemic is cities are now going to be in serious financial trouble and they will be no money to build protected bike lanes, not that cities such as Phoenix have showed any inclination to do. Surprise, of all places, has built a real protected bike lane on Bullard from Greenway to Cactus using a raised concrete median. So it was possible to build protected bike ways, just not in Phoenix.
No matter how many laws are passed they will continue to broken. However, there is one law that can never be broken – the law of physics! A three ton SUV vs a 200lb bike rider? The bike rider has no chance whatsoever.
IMHO people who ride bikes on the streets are suicidal; the careless nature of drivers coupled with cellphones and speed and it’s a disaster.
For you own sake, I’d suggest bicyclists find somewhere else to ride than busy thoroughfares.
Hi Ed;
Sorry for the delay in publishing your comment but i did want to comment on your comment.
In traffic, as in life, everything has risk. Objectively, we see the relative risk of severe traffic injuries as a continuum with Motorcyclists (by far) the most risky, followed by Pedestrians (walking), bicyclists, motorists in cars, motorists in Light trucks (and SUVs), and finally those inside of heavy trucks / buses as having the least risk.
To make this a bit more local: Scottsdale is a huge city with a land area of 185 square miles, yet there are ~ 10 serious injuries involving cyclists per year. Everyone gets to evaluate risk for themselves; personally I don’t find that unacceptably risky; certainly “suicidal” is hyperbole.
Your reference to “busy thoroughfares” is a non sequitur — it is, of course, the case that most bicyclists who are injured are injured on “busy” roads. But this is also the case for everyone else traveling. Cyclist injuries account for ~ only 2% of all traffic injuries; Motorists make up, by far, the bulk (around 96%; the other 2% or so being pedestrians).
You could theoretically improve bicyclist traffic safety almost completely; but what do you propose for the other 96% of the traffic injury problem which revolves entirely around motorists?
— azbikelaw
OMG I can’t believe I’m reading “no serious injuries involving cyclists “ per year in Scottsdale!! My son was killed May 2020 riding bike when driver lost control SUV and killed him.. We lost son , sister lost brother, his children lost father and wife lost husband of 23 years . None of us recovered from this terrible tragedy and God knows if we ever will. Driver was driving with suspended license and as of today he’s still at home Enjoying his life. I know there are other people that this happened also.
Received full DR on 2/22/2021 from Beka in SPD records.
Summary:
collision was ~ 0759. The driver called 911 at 0800. The driver said he didn’t see any bicyclist before impact, he said the sun was in his eyes. He also didn’t remember seeing the other bicyclist who was ~ 50 yards behind the victim.
The driver also insisted he was driving within the lane.
“Charges will be filed for 28-675, causing a fatal crash while suspended or revoked, a Class 4 felony”.
The investigator “… located a fresh tire scuff on the shoulder approximately 12 inches outside the white line. The tire scuff was caused by the collision of the SUV with the bicycle. This was the point of impact”.
“Sunrise on this date was at 0521 hours. I arrived at the scene at 0805 hours… I was wearing polarized sunglasses. I found the sun was high in the sky and there was no issue with sun glare as I faced eastbound.”
“… I noticed small tire marks on the south side of the fog line for the East Bound traffic lane…” (i.e. to the right of the line)
The report doesn’t state the reason why suspect’s license was suspended/revoked, only that it is from out of state.
Did anything ever end up happening here? I tried to do a search of Maricopa Courts, but didn’t see the driver named in any criminal or civil cases. I’m assuming he never even got a ticket or sued by the victims family
Hi Frank, it appears the Maricopa county attorney’s office refused to bring charges for whatever reason. I have never figured out how to get any information from the county attorney on cases they decide not to pursue.
If the county attorney is really not going to bring any felony charges, the Scottsdale City attorney should bring misdemeanor charges, 28-672
Submitted public records request at
https://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/221/Public-Records-Requests :
Anything relating to charging decisions regarding a fatal traffic collision
5/23/2020
suspect’s name: Matthew L Stryer
victim’s name: Miodrag Milovanovic
Charges referred by Scottsdale PD are: 28-675 , 28-729.1 , and 28-3473A
It appears the suspect was never charged.
Spoke with the case detective today, he didn’t tell me any information, other than at his suggestion I requested any updates to original report since it was sent to me last year from police records, spoke with Lisa C and received them later that day (very efficient!)… The update was simply that:
“On 5/18/21, I was informed that MCAO had declined prosecution in this matter and requested that I submit to the City Prosecutor`s
office.
28-675 will be changed to 28-672 and long form charges will be filed with the City”
I would note that MCAO responded just a few days before the statute of limitations on a suspended driving violation would expire (1 year, right?); in any event 28-672 is two years, and as of this writing (March of 2022) has nothing (that i can find?) has been filed — so what is Scottsdale City Prosecutor doing?
By the way, the lead investigator, Det. Ken Strohmeyer is
“a Traffic Crash Reconstructionist since 2007, the primary investigator on over 250 cases. My training includes over 2000 hours in traffic crash reconstruction with over 240 hours specifically in EDR data retrieval and analysis. I teach crash reconstruction for AZPOST and I am an Adjunct Instructor for the Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM) and have presented several times at their Symposium on Traffic Safety. I am also an editor for SAE in the Traffic Reconstruction area”
In ADOT records, there have been 181 fatal traffic collisions, and 1,530 serious injury collisions in Scottsdale (includes the highway)….
In ADOT records, since 2009 there have been 163 fatal traffic collisions, and 1,484 serious injury collisions investigated by the Scottsdale PD. (A few of these, of course, involved felony charges which is out of the city prosecutor’s purview)
Although I have no way of tallying or searching for charges; I am aware of only two (TWO, in 13 years?!) cases where the Scottsdale prosecutor brought a 28-672 charge, in 2012 driver Frederick Matschull killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk, the charge was for unknown reasons turned into a “delayed prosecution”, and it would appear the fines were waived, and of course resulted in no license suspension — seemingly ZERO consequences.
https://azbikelaw.org/bad-weekend-in-scottsdale/#comment-16383
Also in 2012, a driver made a bad left, seriously injured a juvenile riding a bicycle in a crosswalk. He either plead or was found guilty, I don’t know the consequences for the driver, you can look up TR-2012004749
https://azbikelaw.org/sidewalk-cycling-in-arizona/#comment-14147
SELECT IncidentID,IncidentDateTime,CityId, LOVCity.name,Onroad,CrossingFeature FROM incident i LEFT OUTER JOIN LOVCity ON i.CityId = LOVCity.id LEFT OUTER JOIN LOVCounty ON i.CountyId = LOVCounty.id WHERE TRUE AND sF_Motorist AND LOVCity.name LIKE “scottsdale%” AND eInjurySeverity IN (5) ;
To get just Scottsdale PD: OfficerNcic: 725
SELECT count(*) FROM incident i LEFT OUTER JOIN LOVCity ON i.CityId = LOVCity.id LEFT OUTER JOIN LOVCounty ON i.CountyId = LOVCounty.id WHERE TRUE AND sF_Motorist AND OfficerNcic = 725 AND eInjurySeverity IN (5) ;
There is no law in Scottsdale Arizona one can kill a person and nothing would be done. Driver goes home continue with his/ hers life as nothing happened while family of person they killed can’t recover even 2 years later and probably never will.