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An 18 year-old Millsboro woman driver is facing charges in the death of a bicyclist.
A Sussex County grand jury on June 27 indicted Megan Seek, 18, for operating a vehicle causing death, in connection with an April 28 accident in which a Polish woman was struck and killed.
The misdemeanor charge carries a penalty ranging from probation to 30 months in jail for a first offense and a maximum fine of $1,150, said Lori Sitler, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office.
Sitler said a warrant has been issued, and Seek is expected to turn herself in to authorities. The case will be scheduled for a case review in about a month, she said.
The accident occurred at 11 p.m., shortly after Katarzyna Reteruk, 22, a student visiting from Poland, left her job at Ann Marie’s Restaurant. Police said she was riding south on Route 1, near the entrance of McDonald’s, when she was struck from behind by a Buick Skylark driven by Seek. Reteruk was taken to Beebe Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Reteruk was not wearing a helmet, police said. A witness said her bike had a blinking red light on the back and a headlight on the front.
While prosecutors are not legally required to talk with a victim’s family before charges are filed, it is a practice recommended by the Victim’s Bill of Rights, Sitler said, and that practice was followed in this case. Complicating the situation was that the victim’s family lives in Poland and does not speak English.
Intersection studied
In fatal accident investigations, a team from Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) typically examines the crash to see if road conditions could have contributed to the accident.
Darrel Cole, public relations manager for DelDOT, said the transportation team subsequently recommended more lights be installed at the intersection. He said the new lights may be in place by the end of the summer.
Cole also indicated that during the investigation, state police investigators said Seek was talking on a cell phone at the time the accident occurred. Neither state police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham nor the Attorney General’s Office would release information gathered during the investigation. “It’s part of the investigative file, which is not something that is released,” Sitler said.
Concerned about young drivers using cell phones, the state Legislature recently passed a measure to limit cell phone use in cars. That measure would require anyone with a learner’s permit to pull over if they are using the cell phone, but Seek has a regular license, so that statue would not apply in this case.
Paying for funeral
For Reteruk’s parents, the case involves more than laws and permits. They have been struggling to pay for their daughter’s funeral.
“The parents have a pretty hefty funeral bill in Poland, which I am helping them get paid,” said Paul Sosnowski, an attorney in Philadelphia, who is affiliated with the Polish-American Cultural Center there.
Sosnowski said he was contacted by the Polish Consulate and has been working with Reteruk’s parents. “They were most concerned with having her remains sent back to Poland, then burying her, which they did,” he said.
Reteruk’s parents are not wealthy people, but Sosnowski said he expects Seek’s insurance will pay funeral costs.
“I don’t think [the Reteruks] are interested, necessarily, in retribution,” Sosnowski said. “They are mostly interested in obtaining some type of justice.”
The Reteruks want to make sure a similar accident doesn’t happen again to some unfortunate person, Sosnowski said.
So many cyclists
In the meantime, however, many young people are riding to and from work on Route 1 between Dewey Beach and Lewes.
“The great number of jobs for us are on both sides of this highway,” said Nikolai Dmitriev, as he took a break from his ride to his job at Royal Farms.
He said for many young foreign workers like him, a bicycle, which he said costs only about $50, is their only way to get around. “They have to pay for uniforms, a house, for food,” he said.
Authorities have to do something, said Helen Ivanova, who is visiting from Belarus. A friend of Reteruk’s, Ivanova said the problems of kids on the highway are getting worse.
“The season has changed, and now there are hundreds of foreign students on bicycles on the road,” she said.
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