According to the Santa Clarita Valley Signal, Joseph Novotny, 43, was struck on July 11 by 21-year-old Marco Valencia, an allegedly drunk Canyon Country driver. According to the CHP, Novotny was killed and two others injured when Valencia’s truck plowed into a group of cyclists on Bouquet Canyon Road.
175 bicyclists took off that morning as they rode the “Memorial Ride of Silence” at 10 to 12 miles per hour. Novotny’s widow, Jill Kantos, rode in a sheriff’s car escorting the cyclists down Magic Mountain Parkway to Railroad Avenue, up Lyons Avenue, across Stevenson Ranch Parkway and back down Magic Mountain Parkway to Citrus Street.
Marco Valencia is charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony hit-and-run and other charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 28 in at a San Fernando Superior Court. Valencia, who had two previous DUI convictions prior to the July crash, could face life in prison if convicted.
