County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry experienced life-threatening injuries after a driver of a car made an unsafe lane change and collided with another vehicle that caused it to careen into Huckelberry as he rode his bike downtown Oct. 23, according to Tucson Police Department reports.
The reports say Freddie Goss, 75, merged from the right to left lane heading west on Congress Street, hitting a white Jeep Wrangler and causing it to “fishtail in the intersection on only its driver’s side wheels” and knock Huckelberry off his bike.
Police officers reviewed surveillance footage taken from a nearby business to confirm the incident. Goss and her granddaughter, who was a passenger in the car, told police they were headed to the Tucson Convention Center.
Goss was cited for causing an accident resulting in serious physical injury or death and making an unsafe lane change. Her hearing is set in Tucson City Court on Nov. 16, court records show.
Huckelberry
Goss told police she was making a left turn to go southbound on Church when the Jeep collided with her vehicle “out of nowhere.” The reports noted the front driver’s side damage to her vehicle wasn’t consistent with her statement, but she maintained it.
Huckelberry suffered a brain bleed, a punctured lung and broken ribs, according to the reports. He was wearing a helmet during the collision and traveling in the bike lane on Congress.
A Tucson police diagram of the accident that injured county Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
“Chuck is doing better. He’s made slow but steady progress over these past 10 days,” Huckelberry’s wife, Maureen Huckelberry, said in a written statement Tuesday. “The nature of his injuries requires us to be patient and celebrate the small victories as they come each day.”
“I know there is a lot of curiosity about when he might return to work. Chuck’s wonderful team of doctors remain optimistic that he will recover and be back in the office dictating all those memos I know you all love to receive. But right now, we’re focused on how Chuck is doing today and whether today was better than yesterday. On behalf of Chuck and our entire family, I want to share how appreciative and grateful we all are for the outpouring of support and concern for Chuck. It’s been truly incredible and I am deeply touched to know how much he means to all of you. Thank you.”
Curtis Lueck was riding his bike about 100 feet in front of Huckelberry when Huckelberry was hit. Lueck says he typically rides with Huckelberry and another friend on Saturdays.
“People ask me, how do I feel? Well, another one of my friends just had a bike accident,” he said. “It just happens too often here, that’s the unfortunate part.”
The drivers of both vehicles stopped after the collision and cooperated with the investigation, the reports say. Neither of the drivers was determined to be impaired or driving over the speed limit.
