Rochester Man Gets Probation For Striking Bicyclist With Car

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has avoided a felony conviction for striking a bicyclist with this car after using methamphetamine.

28-year-old Uriah Flowers was arrested after his vehicle collided with a 41-year-old man on a bike at the intersection of Civic Center Drive and West Silver Lake Drive Northeast shortly after 11 PM on the night of May 12. The collision was witnessed by a Rochester Police Officer, who saw the bicyclist fly into the air and strike his head on the pavement. The man later told police he blacked out but was not seriously hurt.

The criminal complaint, which charged Flowers with felony criminal vehicular operation involving drug use, DWI, and fifth-degree drug possession, states that Flowers immediately stopped and the officer who witnessed the crash found him sitting on the curb crying hysterically. the court document says Flowers told the officer he was traveling at about 35 mph when his car hit the bicyclist. He also indicated that he had consumed a shot of liquor about an hour earlier and admitted to previous methamphetamine use, saying he had smoked it a couple of months prior to that day.

The arresting officer noticed his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and observed that his pupils were extremely constricted and did not respond to light. It was also noted that Flowers wobbled heavily and almost fell over when he stood up. A preliminary breath test performed at the scene measured his blood-alcohol-concentration well below the legal limit but a glass methamphetamine pipe with a brownish residue was found in Flowers’ possession when he was searched by the officer. A search of his vehicle turned up about a gram of suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Under the terms of a plea agreement reached on Tuesday, Flowers entered a guilty plea to a gross misdemeanor count of criminal vehicular operation. The other charges stemming from the collision with the bicyclist were dismissed along with a DWI charge stemming from an earlier arrest.

Flowers was sentenced today to five years on probation with a stayed one-year jail sentence that he could be required to serve if he gets in trouble. He was also fined $200 and ordered to pay $350 in restitution.