By PAMELA CODY
Special to the PRESS
January 22, 2015
At approximately 4:15 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 19, an elderly man riding a bicycle was involved in a collision with an automobile on Padre Boulevard on South Padre Island. The accident occurred in front of the Sunchase Suites, located at 1004 Padre Blvd.
According to a police report obtained by the PRESS, the cyclist, Ronald Michael Derfus, 72, of Marshfield, Wisconsin, was traveling southbound on the shoulder of the road of the northbound lane. The driver, Lori Gale Suissa, 59, was in a 2010 white Lexus RX350 exiting the parking lot of Sunchase IV Condominiums. As she exited the private parking lot, she struck the back tire of the cyclist with the front left portion of her vehicle, knocking Derfus off the bike and onto the pavement. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. Derfus was transported via ambulance to Valley Baptist Hospital by SPI EMS services. He was later discharged, according to a hospital spokesperson.
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