Update, Sept. 17, 1:15 p.m.The Alameda County coroner’s office has identified the cyclist who was killed as Ronald Sullivan, 61. His city of residence was not listed, the coroner’s office said Tuesday.
Original story: A cyclist was killed early Saturday morning when his bike got caught in a road grate on or near the Ashby Avenue on-ramp to Interstate 80 in West Berkeley, sending him crashing into the pavement, authorities report.
Little information was available about the cyclist because his next of kin has not been notified, the Alameda County coroner’s office told Berkeleyside.
Authorities got the call about the crash at about 3:30 a.m., said Officer Kris Borer of the California Highway Patrol’s Oakland division. Officers found the cyclist deceased on the Ashby Avenue freeway on-ramp when they arrived.
One of his tires had gotten caught in the road grate, causing the bike to flip and the cyclist’s head to hit the asphalt. He was still astride the bicycle when the CHP arrived, Borer said. The call initially came out as a possible gunshot, but officers quickly realized that was not the case.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The preliminary cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma to the head, Borer said.
The crash took place right at the border between the CHP’s jurisdiction and the city of Berkeley. The man’s body and bicycle came to rest on the on-ramp, but his path of travel and the exact location of the collision were not available as of publication time.
Cyclists typically are not allowed on the freeway, Borer said.
