2 bicyclists hit, 1 dead in Amherst hit-and-run

[ Originally published on: Monday, September 14, 2009 ]

AMHERST -- A University of Massachusetts student was killed Saturday night when he was struck by an unidentified vehicle as he was bicycling on Montague Road, police said.

Blake Goodman, 21, of Wakefield, was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital after the accident. He was the second UMass student to die suddenly and violently in a three-day period, after Peter Boutarel, 19, was struck and killed by a train Thursday in Leverett.

Saturday's accident was reported at 10:26 p.m. Goodman and John Deary, 24, of 310 Montague Road, also a UMass student, were bicycling together when they were both struck by the vehicle, which fled the scene, police said.

The incident took place near 115 Montague Road, across from W.D. Cowls Inc.

The bicycle lane there is 4½ feet wide.

Deary was treated for a leg injury at the hospital and released, police said.

Witnesses described the vehicle as a dark-colored, possibly black sedan, and evidence recovered at the scene led investigators to believe that it could be a Ford, police said. It will have sustained damage to the passenger side of the front end and the mirror assembly on the passenger side, police said.

Amherst police investigators are working with the State Police Accident Reconstruction Team and the Northwestern District Attorney's office. Anyone with information about the vehicle is encouraged to call the Amherst Police Department at (413) 259-3000.

 

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