Police Search for Vehicle Involved in Deadly Hit and Run Involving Bicyclist

Grand Prairie police are searching for a car involved in a fatal hit and run crash with a bicyclist early Sunday morning.

Police said at about 6 a.m. a bicyclist was struck at South Belt Line Road at the Interstate 20 Eastbound frontage road. The bicyclist, identified as 42-year-old Calvin John Middleton, died at the scene.

Detectives now believe the suspect was driving a dark colored 2008 Chevy Malibu based on witness accounts and the investigation.

The car sustained front-end damage including a busted front passenger headlight.

Police said the suspect vehicle fled the scene driving northbound on Belt Line Road. Witnesses described the people inside the vehicle as two black females in their late 20's. The driver was wearing a pink shirt, khaki shorts and pink tennis shoes.

Grand Prairie police have two things working in their favor at this point in the investigation: witnesses who stopped to help and traffic surveillance video that shows the suspect leaving the scene of the crash.

Police say a witness in a white pickup truck followed the hit and run driver about a block down the road.

Traffic surveillance video released by police shows both drivers doing a u-turn and heading back toward the crash site.

It is then that witnesses told police that the driver got out, asked them if the bicyclist was dead, then got back in her car and drove off.

There were at least three witnesses who stopped to help but were unable to report the car's license plate to police.

Middleton's family spent Sunday afternoon in Cedar Hill surrounded by family and friends.

At one point, Middleton's elderly mother and younger brother Shon Middleton held hands in prayer.

They are asking the driver to 'do the right thing' and turn herself in.

"An accident situation turned into a murder situation. That's the part we're trying to get answers about," Shon Middleton said. "All this person had to do was the right thing. They won't be in trouble by doing the right thing. We would just have to grieve that it was an accident. But now we have to look at it a total different way of you actually left my brother there with no help."

Middleton said his big brother found a passion for cycling about two years ago and is comforted in knowing his brother was doing something he loved at the time of his death.

"That's what actually puts a smile on my face and kind of gives me a little joy because I know for sure he enjoyed what he was doing," he said.

Police said Middleton was wearing full protective gear and traveling legally on the road at the time of the crash.

On Monday afternoon, the Iron Riders Dallas Cycling Club decided to go ahead and have their weekly ride, albeit with a heavy heart after losing one of their beloved members.

Club president Sheryl Porter describes Middleton as a 'quiet spirit' and kind man.

She says he was an experienced and safe cyclist who was training to enter races.

"The hardest part is thinking of him laying there by himself dying when someone could've helped him," said Porter. "That's the hardest part and I just share with his family that I just pray God took him quickly and he didn't suffer."

The bicycle club is planning on holding a memorial ride in Middleton's honor on Saturday.

Middleton also belonged to other area bicycle clubs which are planning a joint effort to soon place a symbolic 'ghost bike' where he was killed.

"Calvin didn't deserve this," said Porter. "We're cyclists. We're out here trying to exercise, but we're also people. We're mothers, we're fathers, we're someone's loved ones. What we're doing is something that we enjoy and no one wants to think that they're going to go out and they're not going to come home. So if it takes five seconds, thirty seconds, a minute or whatever, slow down."

It is not known what led up to the crash or if the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The driver faces a second degree felony charge for not stopping and rendering aid, police said during a press conference.

Her passenger could also face charges.