12:07 PM EST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005

By LISA RANTALA / 6NEWS

6NEWS

Officers said Seaborn Blackwell Jr. was riding his bike on Lawyers Road when he was hit from behind.

Investigators will be making their way back to a scene where a man on a bike was hit and later died while riding in east Charlotte Monday night. Officers said the man responsible for the death was drunk and he fled the scene after the accident.

According to police, Seaborn Blackwell Jr., 43, was riding his bike down the 8900 block of Lawyer's Road near Mint Hill. Police said he was riding with the flow of traffic when he was hit from behind by an SUV.

Officers arrived on scene, put up a perimeter, and took Blackwell to Carolinas Medical Center. They also set off to find the SUV that caused the accident.

Blackwell, Larry to his friends, lived about a mile from the accident scene. Neighbors think he may have been riding his bike to the store.

CMPD

Steven Wayne Jones.

"He has an old truck and it's been broken down for a while so I think he had to switch to a bicycle to get around," said Don Smith, a friend of Blackwell. "When a neighbor gets killed it's a real shock."

Smith said Blackwell was known around the neighborhood and helped others.

"Some of the neighbors weren’t able to take care of their yards so Larry  would take care of them for them, he was just a real personable, likeable guy," said Smith.

Police later caught up with the driver of the 2005 Ford Expedition that hit Blackwell. Officers then charged Steven Wayne Jones, 23, the driver, with DWI/hit and run.

Blackwell's neighbor said he's concerned because this was another fatality likely caused by drinking and driving.

"You hear more and more of that, I mean, look in the last few weeks all the people killed by drunk drivers," said Smith.

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Blackwell died while at the hospital before Jones was arrested. As Jones sits in jail the lights are still on at Larry's house even though neighbors now know he won't ever be coming home.

"My wife saw him on the street yesterday and he was riding up and down the street," said Blackwell.

Because Blackwell died after police charged him he could face more charges. The district attorney will have to decide if that is warranted in this case later this week.