A man charged with killing five bicyclists and seriously injuring four more in Michigan formerly operated an auto repair shop in Soddy Daisy.
Authorities said Thursday that Charles Pickett, Jr., 50, will be facing second-degree murder charges and four counts of reckless driving causing serious impairment for the bicyclists injured in the hit-and-run crash.
A local man who remembers Pickett said he at one time worked in auto repair for a car dealer in Dayton. He said he then opened his own shop for a couple of years in Soddy Daisy. He said Pickett left town some five to six years ago.
At one time, he said Pickett told him he was from Michigan.
Pickett could face up to life in prison if convicted of murder. The reckless driving counts are punishable by up to five years in prison.
Killed were Debra Ann Bradley, 53, of Augusta, Mi.; Melissa Ann Fevig-Hughes, 42, of Augusta, Mi.; Fred Anton "Tony" Nelson, 73, of Kalamazoo, Mi.; Lorenz John "Larry" Paulik, 74, of Kalamazoo, Mi., and Suzanne Joan Sippel, 56, of Augusta, Mi.
Four people were seriously injured. They are Paul Douglas Gobble, 47 of Richland, Mi., Sheila Diane Jeske, 53, of Richland, Mi., Jennifer Lynn Johnson, 40 of Kalamazoo, Mi., and Paul Lewis Runnels, 65, of Richland, Mi.