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Bicyclists hold memorial ride for man killed by drugged driver

Posted at 8:05 PM, Jun 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-27 00:13:51-04

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- The heartbreaking thing about 61-year-old William Rust III's death, Frank Henson said Monday evening, is that there was nothing Rust could have done to prevent it.

Rust was thrown from his bicycle and killed May 22 when Steven Sickle, 33, drifted off the road and struck him, police said. Documents indicated Sickle admitted to snorting heroin before he got behind the wheel that night.

"It wasn't a bicycling issue," Henson, the president of cycling organization Queen City Bike, said. "It was a drugged driver issue, and I don't know how we defend ourselves from that."

Henson was among the dozens of people who participated in a Monday evening ‘ghost ride' in Rust's honor, riding from Lunken Airport to the same stretch of U.S. Route 52 where the Candle Lab founder died. A "ghost bike" will mark the spot of the crash and remind drivers to be conscientious about the people with whom they share the road.

"Put your phones down," Cincinnati Cycle Club president Derek Drifemeyer advised driver's. "Don't get behind the wheel if you're intoxicated at all. Just pay attention, or you're going to kill someone else."

Following the ride, the cyclists gathered at Kellogg Park for a memorial service.

Sickle is facing charges of fleeing the scene of a deadly automobile crash and aggravated vehicular homicide. His case is ongoing in Hamilton County court.