12-Year-Old Bicyclist Killed In DUI Crash, Driver Charged With Homicide: Police

ROCKFORD, IL — A driver is charged with reckless homicide after fatally striking a 12-year-old bicyclist while intoxicated on Tuesday in Rockford — one of two deadly crashes involving bicyclists to befall the city on the same day, police said.

Brian Knittel, 61, of Rockford, faces charges including reckless homicide, aggravated driving under the influence of drugs and multiple traffic offenses, according to police.

Knittel was charged after officers responded around 5:30 p.m. to the 900 block of 11th Street for a report of a truck hitting a boy on a bicycle, police said, adding the child was taken to a hospital and died. Knittel was lodged in the Winnebago County jail, according to police.

Earlier Tuesday, a 58-year-old woman was brought to a hospital, where she died, following a collision between a bicyclist and a truck that was reported around 10 a.m. in the 500 block of Welty Avenue, police said. WTVO reported that the bicyclist had been identified by the county coroner’s office as Sheila Foerster of Rockford.

No one was immediately charged in the Welty Avenue crash, according to police, who said the two Tuesday crashes were not related. Anyone with information was asked to contact Rockford police, authorities said.