Charges won’t be filed in fatal bike-truck collision at South Lawrence Trafficway

Charges will not be filed against the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a 29-year-old Lawrence woman in July, a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper said.

Hayley M. Berrios was riding a bicycle east across the South Lawrence Trafficway near the stoplight at 27th Street at about 8 p.m. on July 21 when she was struck by a vehicle traveling north.

Berrios, who had been riding with her husband, Stephen, and several friends from a church group, was declared dead before a helicopter ambulance could arrive. A 1974 Chevrolet truck driven by Walter Spencer, 67, of Lawrence, struck her. Spencer was not injured in the accident and will not face charges of failing to stop, Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Dennis Shoemaker said.

The highway patrol and Douglas County Sheriff’s Department investigated the accident, Shoemaker said, and conducted in-person interviews of numerous witnesses. Shoemaker said that Berrios was riding beside a friend when they came upon the intersection. Her friend stopped as the traffic light turned red and called for Berrios to stop moments before the collision. Shoemaker said that several witnesses also driving the same direction as Spencer were able to verify that he had the green light.