Bicyclist Crashes With Car, Dies

A bicyclist was killed Wednesday afternoon after he collided with a car that dragged him several feet, police said.

Daniel Gentile, 51, of Newport Beach, was riding a mountain bike north toward Superior Avenue and West Coast Highway about 2:30 p.m. when a Toyota entered the intersection against a red light, Police Lt. Mike Jackson said.

The car, driven by 90-year-old Bill Pigg, hit Gentile and then hit a city bus that was traveling in the same direction as the cyclist, witnesses told police. Pigg drove several more feet with Gentile under the car before motorists and pedestrians waved for him to stop. Officer Joe Lambert and several passers-by turned the vehicle over so that Gentile could be removed. Gentile was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured.

Police said there was no indication that alcohol or drugs played a role in the incident. The case is still under investigation.

Orange County Transit Authority spokesman John Standiford said the bus driver was quite shaken by the incident, but that the accident “was not the fault of the bus driver or the cyclist.”