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08/31/2003: James Roy Thomerson and Brian Joseph Delaney - 2003/09/02 14:32
Truck slams into cyclists
By Michael Baker
The Facts
Published August 31, 2003
BRAZORIA — Two men died Saturday morning when an out-of-control truck plowed into a line of bicyclists who were in the middle of a 55-mile trek.
Lake Jackson residents James Roy Thomerson, 49, and Brian Joseph Delaney, 47, were two of about 20 cyclists from the Brazosport Bicycle Club riding in single file west on Highway 332 about 8 a.m. Saturday. As they reached the sharp curve underneath the bridge on FM 521, a 1999 Ford F-150 sped around the curve and hit about five of the cyclists, said Sgt. Randy Jones with the Department of Public Safety.
DPS Trooper Blaine Chesser said the scene was grisly when he arrived.
“We had bikes everywhere, and people lying on the ground all over the place,” Chesser said. “It was unbelievable.”
Thomerson and Delaney both died at the scene, Chesser said. Cyclist Amanda McDaniel, a 26-year-old Dallas resident, was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital by LifeFlight helicopter. Kelton Thomson, a 60-year-old Lake Jackson resident, was taken by ambulance to Brazosport Memorial Hospital.
Neither McDaniel’s nor Thomson’s injuries appeared to be life-threatening, Chesser said.
The truck’s driver, 44-year-old Lake Jackson resident Marcia Ann Meeks, had lost control as she went around the curve, Jones said. She saw the cyclists, hit her brakes and went into a spin before hitting the line of cyclists, he said.
Angleton resident Lance Phy, who was riding near the back of the line, said not all the cyclists knew what was happening.
“Some wouldn’t have seen it,” Phy said. “It just happened too fast.”
Jones said excessive speed likely made Meeks lose control. Drugs or alcohol were not believed to be a factor, though Meeks was taken to BMH to be tested for the substances, he said.
“She was emotionally distraught, but she was not injured,” Jones said.
Charges are pending against Meeks, Chesser said.
Phy is also an officer with the Sugar Land Police Department and helped DPS investigate the accident. He did not know Thomerson or Delaney well, but the accident really shook up him and the other cyclists, he said.
“It’s a pretty traumatic thing, especially for those at the front of the pack who narrowly missed it,” Phy said. “It’s the one thing you fear as a cyclist.”
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