A 61-year-old woman accused of using her station wagon to intentionally strike a bicyclist in Claremont last weekend was charged Tuesday with murder.
Sandra Marie Wicksted of Claremont is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at the Pomona courthouse in connection with the death of Leslie Pray, 54, of Claremont.
Wicksted is also charged with four counts of attempted murder for allegedly trying to run over four people before the crash that killed Pray, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The charges include allegations that she personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon — a vehicle — and that she committed the crimes willfully, deliberately and with premeditation.
Other cyclists had called police to report that a driver was trying to run them down before Pray was struck, according to broadcast reports.
Police said Pray died at the scene of the collision with Wicksted’s 1996 Mercury Tracer, which was reported at 11:37 a.m. Saturday in the 1900 block of Mills Avenue.
“Based on the investigation, it was determined that the driver intended to strike the bicyclist,” Claremont Police Lt. Eric Huizar said.
Wicksted, who was treated at a hospital for unspecified injuries, was arrested just after 12:05 p.m. and has remained in custody since then in lieu of $2 million bail, according to jail records.
Prosecutors were expected to ask that her bail be increased to $6.1 million.
If convicted as charged, Wicksted could face a maximum of life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
More than 100 people attended a candlelight vigil Monday night at the scene of the crash, where a so-called “ghost bike” painted white was left at the location as a memorial to Pray. Ghost bikes have become common markers of sites where bicyclists have died in vehicle collisions.
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