Bicyclist hit, killed just west of Modesto

A Sacramento man was killed Wednesday night after the bicycle he was riding was struck by a car west of Modesto, authorities said.

The 27-year-old man, whose name is being withheld until his family is notified, was riding a bicycle westbound on Fulkerth Road just east of North Blaker Road at 7:15 p.m., according to officer Rafael Pimentel of the California Highway Patrol.

Vanessa Carillo, 21, of Patterson, was driving a 1999 Toyota west on Fulkerth at approximately 55 mph when she apparently struck the man’s bicycle from behind, Pimentel reported.

Carillo continued driving. About an hour later, she called 9-1-1 to report she thought she hit a dog.

Upon further questioning, she told officers she might have collided with a person. The CHP said Carillo admitted stopping in the middle of the road, looking through her rear view mirror and seeing a body on the ground.

The case is being investigated as a felony hit-and-run, according to CHP officer Chuck Leon. No arrest has been made, he said.

Leon added that neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to have played a role in the incident, but that the report stated that Carillo was allegedly driving at an “unsafe speed.”