Rushville, N.Y. - Kevin Royston is a husband, father and athlete.
Now he’s in a hospital bed, his leg broken in four places, so damaged that it likely cannot be saved.
“We need to find the person who did this,” says his brother Bryan Royston who spoke to 13WHAM News via telephone from Strong Memorial Hospital. “We are devastated.”
Kevin Royston, 43, was struck while riding his bicycle just outside of Rushville, Ontario County Tuesday night. The driver responsible didn’t even stop.
“There were flashing lights at the top of the hill,” says Linda Green who lives on Town Line Road where the incident happened. She returned from a concert Tuesday night to the sound of the Mercy Flight helicopter.
“It’s hard because it’s someone everyone around knows. it’s a small town,” she says.
Investigators say another driver on his way to Wayland discovered the victim lying in the ditch next to a broken bicycle. He had been riding up a small hill, when he was struck from behind.
The impact threw him into the ditch. Kevin Royston did not see the vehicle. “He doesn’t have much memory of what happened,” says his brother Bryan.
“For that individual to leave that area and not render any help--we’re just fortunate that someone else came along and found the victim,” says Ontario County Undersheriff Dave Tillman.
Kevin Royston spent last weekend on the motocross circuit where he is a well- known competitor. He is also an avid bicycle rider and on Tuesday night was traveling near his home, a route his brother says he knows well.
Yet Town Line Road is part of a new, temporary construction detour around Rushville, carrying a lot of traffic including trucks headed to the Southern Tier.
“That’s why my bicycle is parked under that tree,” says neighbor Linda Green. “We don’t want to take bike rides just down to the local gas station to get ice cream or whatever. [The traffic] is just a little crazy.”
The force of the impact collapsed the victim’s bike into three pieces. Police say it likely left damage behind as well.
“The fact that Mr. Royston was struck and the bicycle was struck should leave some identifying marks on the vehicle involved,” says Undersheriff Tillman.
Investigators want to hear from collision shops, or about any suspicious postings on Twitter or Facebook. They are also looking for witnesses who may have been driving in the area of Town Line Road near Route 364 in Rushville around 7 o’clock Tuesday night.
