By
The Associated Press
Dana Point, Calif.
— A driver was arrested after striking and fatally stabbing a bicyclist on a Southern California highway, authorities said.
Vanroy Evan Smith, 39, of Long Beach, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder in the Wednesday attack in Dana Point (a city on the coast about 60 miles south of Los Angeles).
The man was jailed without bail on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Investigators work at a crime scene in Dana Point, California, on February 1, 2023.KNBC
Michael John Mammone, 58, was in a bike lane on Pacific Coast Highway around 3 p.m. when he was struck from behind by a Lexus sedan at an intersection, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
The collision "threw him into the intersection
," Sgt. Mike Woodroof told NBC Los Angeles.
"At that time, the suspect drove up to the victim, got out of the vehicle, and continued to assault the victim," he said.
The driver stabbed Mammone, who was pronounced dead at a hospital, a statement from the sheriff's department said Thursday.
[“He will be duly charged”: what can happen to the student arrested for the beating of a girl on a Florida school bus]
Bystanders held Smith back until sheriff's deputies arrived.
He was arrested and a knife was seized from him, authorities said.
Tears of pain and repentance in the court where Pablo Lyle was sentenced to 5 years in prison
Feb 3, 202303:01
Smith
had no known connection
to Mammone and investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the murder.
Mammone was an emergency room physician
at Providence Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach.
His death is a "shocking tragedy," the hospital said in a statement Thursday.
"The entire Mission Hospital family is grieving the loss of an incredible physician and friend," the statement read.
