Driver cited in DRW car-bicycle crash

A driver who was cited for striking a bicyclist in Deschutes River Woods Wednesday evening said he had diverted his attention to an instrument gauge and didn’t see the cyclist in the roadway, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies were dispatched around 5:40 p.m. to the reported crash in the 60000 block of Cheyenne Road, Sgt. Grant Johnstone said. They arrived and gave first aid to the cyclist, Mitchell Peters, 23, of Bend.

Johnstone said an investigation determined driver Ethan Ropp, 26, also of Bend, was heading north at the wheel of a red 2003 Subaru Legacy near the posted speed limit of 35 mph when he looked at the instrument gauge and didn’t spot Peters riding northbound on the roadway.

Bend Fire Department medics took Peters to St. Charles Bend with non-life-threatening injuries, Johnstone said. Ropp was cited for careless driving.

The sheriff’s office also was assisted at the scene by Oregon State Police.