Inset, left to right: Arthur Williams (Jordan Ward/KUSA) and Jamie Gardner (Aurora PD). Background: The area in Colorado where Gardner allegedly hit and killed Williams (Google Maps).
A 53-year-old Colorado man is accused of hitting and killing a bicyclist with his Subaru Outback before leaving the scene, later telling investigators that he was convinced he had only hit a deer.
Police took Jamie Gardner into custody last week and charged him with one count of felony leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Aurora Police Department, officers responded to a hit-and-run after a passerby discovered an unresponsive man in the road near South Powhaton Road and East Jewell Avenue at about 9:30 a.m. July 27. Emergency medical personnel pronounced the victim dead at the scene. He was later identified as 26-year-old Arthur Williams.
Investigators initially had no witnesses and no time frame for when the collision occurred.
Evidence collected at the scene eventually led investigators to release an image of a white Subaru Outback and ask the public for information about the vehicle's possible direction of travel.
The investigation then took a technological turn. Detectives with Aurora police's Intelligence Unit used Flock Safety cameras to search for the Subaru after the vehicle's image was shared publicly.
Investigators ultimately identified a white Subaru Outback with extensive damage leaving a subdivision near South Harvest Road on the morning of July 28. A Flock camera captured the vehicle's license plate, allowing detectives to identify Gardner as the driver, police said.
Denver NBC affiliate KUSA reported additional details about the fatal collision after obtaining a probable cause affidavit in connection with the case.
According to the report, Williams was riding southbound on Powhaton Road about a quarter-mile north of Jewell Avenue when he was struck sometime around midnight July 27. Investigators determined he was hit from behind.
The stretch of road has no street lighting and only narrow shoulders. Video from a nearby natural gas facility later showed the collision at approximately 12:04 a.m., with a Subaru's passenger-side headlight going out after the impact. The vehicle continued without stopping or deviating from its path, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also reviewed video showing Williams leaving his home with his bicycle at about 9:20 p.m. July 26, helping narrow the time frame.
When detectives contacted Gardner, he confirmed he owned the Subaru and said it was at an auto body shop because he had "hit a deer." He told investigators he remembered the incident occurring at about 12:02 a.m. because he was driving home from the airport after finishing work.
Gardner said he was "stone sober" and told investigators he believed something had walked in front of his vehicle. He said he did not stop because he thought he had struck a deer and had previously hit one in the same area.
When detectives told him he had struck a person, Gardner became "visibly upset," according to the affidavit, saying that he saw it "out of the corner of my eye," before adding, "I thought it was a deer."
Gardner was reportedly adamant that he would have stopped if he had known he hit a person.
Williams' father, Troy Williams, told Denver ABC affiliate KMGH that his son was training for his first triathlon and had played lacrosse before deciding he wanted to join the military.
"I want to be clear: we want justice, but I can't hold hatred and anger in my heart," he told the station. "I have to live with the pain, but I'm not going to live in the pain."
Gardner was released from detention after posting $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing Sept. 8.
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