Man arrested in fatal Carlsbad hit-and-run involving bicyclist

Man arrested in fatal Carlsbad hit-and-run involving bicyclist

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/ KUSI) -- A man was arrested for reportedly hitting and killing a bicyclist in a hit-and-run collision that closed a stretch of Carlsbad Boulevard near the beach for several hours Saturday morning.

Carlsbad Police officers found a bicyclist dead on Carlsbad Boulevard early Saturday morning after they were hit by a vehicle in the area between Tamarack Avenue and Cannon Road around 4:34 a.m., the police department reports.

According to police, community members, Carlsbad license plate readers and a drone helped officers track down the suspect just one mile from the collision.

Carlsbad Police arrested 27-year-old Alexander Gendron, of Escondido, who is facing charges for reportedly leaving the scene of a collision resulting in injury or death, DUI causing injury or death and vehicular manslaughter. Police report Gendron will be booked into the Vista Detention Facility.

The identity of the victim will be released by the San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office at a later date.

The police department said the cause of the collision is under investigation and that alcohol is suspected to be a contributing factor.

The fatal hit-and-run caused police to close Carlsbad Boulevard between Tamarack Avenue and Cannon Road, which was still closed for the investigation as of Saturday evening.

The Carlsbad Police Department is asking anyone who might have witnessed the fatal collision to call Traffic Accident Investigator Corporal Matt Bowen at 442-339-2282.