CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are searching for the driver who ran over and killed a bicyclist on Poindexter Drive in South Charlotte Sunday.
Witnesses said the driver didn't try to slow down and kept going after running over 29-year-old Edward Carl Hedrick.
"It's just unbelievable," friend Gregory Martinez said.
Martinez said he had just met Hedrick at a social cycling event Saturday night and was biking back from a party with him and another friend around 6 a.m. when he said Hedrick fell from his bike.
He said Hedrick scraped his head and was trying to catch his breath when they heard a car approaching.
"Saw the headlights coming, just tried to wave him down," Martinez said, describing how he picked up Hedrick's chrome bicycle and lifted it to catch the driver's eye.
"Waved it in the air," Martinez said, "just, 'Slow down, slow down."
Martinez said the car did not slow down and did not swerve. He said he jumped out of the way and saw it run over Hedrick.
He and his other friend called 911 but emergency crews could not help Hedrick.
Martinez said Hedrick, whose family police said is in Maryland, was visiting Charlotte from New York and was excited that he was getting to know people in the cycling community.
Neighbors told Eyewitness News that a lot of them bike in the neighborhood.
"It's pretty scary," neighbor Natalie Hutchinson said. "I'm going out for a ride with my friend, and that's the first thing I hear this morning."
Hutchinson and other neighbors said that cars cutting through from Park Road to South Boulevard can be a problem, especially when some drive at high speeds in the 25 mph zone.
"The point is, everybody speeds," neighbor Jonathan Parham said. "You know, 25, people going 35."
Martinez said he doesn't understand. He said they were under a streetlight and wearing the right gear, and that this shouldn't have happened.
"Light reflectors on our bikes and everything you know," he said. "Everything you can do as a cyclist."
Police said they are looking for an older model four-door sedan, possibly a Toyota Tercel or Corolla that is silver or light-blue in color. Officers said the car may have minor front end and undercarriage damage and was last seen on Poindexter Drive heading toward South Boulevard.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.