Driver providing GRTC service charged after hitting, killing bicyclist with van in Henrico

Editor's Note: The article has been updated with new details shared by GRTC on Dec. 13.

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A woman is facing charges after she hit and killed a bicyclist while providing a Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) service in Henrico County in late October.

At 6:46 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, officers with the Henrico County Police Division were called to W. Broad Street near the exit ramp to Interstate 64 and Forest Avenue for report of a bicyclist down in the roadway.

When they arrived, officers found 73-year-old Gerald Joseph Kopecky of Henrico down in the eastbound lanes with obvious signs of trauma. Investigators determined that Kopecky was riding his bicycle east on W. Broad Street when he was hit by a GRTC Community Assisted Ride Enterprise (CARE) van.

Kopecky was taken to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he died more than two weeks later on Saturday, Nov. 8.

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More than a month after his death, on Friday, Dec. 12, police announced that the driver involved in this crash -- 48-year-old Hope Chamel Macklin of Richmond -- has been charged.

Macklin is facing two charges. The first is careless driving and infliction of injury or death on a vulnerable road user.

She is also accused of violating Virginia law regarding the safe passing of bicycles, which police described as follows: "Any driver of any motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction shall pass at a reasonable speed at least three feet to the left of the overtaken bicycle."

A GRTC spokesperson shared the following statement regarding this incident:

"The driver involved was not a GRTC employee, but a third-party vendor operator providing service for GRTC's CARE van Paratransit service. As this matter involves a contractor, GRTC cannot comment on the investigation."

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The investigation into this deadly crash continues. If you have any information on this incident, you are asked to contact the Henrico County Police Division at 804-501-5000.