Suspect in Cary cyclists' hit-and-run borrowed car for test drive

A Morrisville man charged with running over a group of bicyclists two weeks ago and then driving off had borrowed the car for a test drive, a neighbor said Monday.

"I was out here, and he walked by one afternoon and asked if the car was for sale and said he would like to buy it from me," Alan Johnson said of Christopher Moore.

Johnson said he allowed Moore to take his car for a drive. A few hours, later he got a visit from Cary police.

"The police come by my house at 11 at night asking about the car," he said.

Investigators said Moore, 33, of Page Street, hit four cyclists on High House Road on Oct. 17. Two cyclists weren't hurt, but Ginny Davis, 55, of Cary, and Lori Cove, 48, of Raleigh, both suffered serious injuries.

"I was close enough to be able to hear the impact of the group getting hit," said Shannon Benedetto, who was biking separately on High House Road that evening.

Benedetto said she was almost hit as well and then saw the same car leaving the scene of the crash.

"He came pretty close to me. He seemed like he was swerving a little bit. At the time, I thought maybe he was distracted or tired," she said.

A 911 caller reported that a man stopped in his neighborhood a short time later, pulled a bike off the hood of his car, tossed it aside and sped away.

Moore is charged with two counts of felony hit and run and one count of driving with a revoked license and remains in the Wake County jail under a $105,000 bond.

He has a lengthy criminal record dating to 2000, including six convictions for driving while impaired and one each for driving with a revoked license and speeding to elude arrest.

Cove, who is director of transportation and facilities for Cary, remains in critical condition at WakeMed. Davis is now recovering at home.

The group of four cyclists met before their evening ride at Cycling Spoken Here in Cary, and owner Steve Levine said safety is top of mind for him and his customers more than ever since the hit-and-run.

"We have chosen this life and this lifestyle, and it's such a terrible thing," Levine said.

Cyclists should wear bright, contrasting clothing on all moving parts and use lights, he said.

"Accidents happen more often during the day than at night, and we need to have our front lights on as well as our rear lights on," he said.

Johnson said he was distraught when he learned his car had been involved in the hit-and-run.

"It was (upsetting), especially me being a cyclist myself, having been hit by a car in the past," he said.