Amy Alexander, Scottsdale SUV Driver Who Killed Bicyclist, Pays $420 Fine

Amy Alexander, the Scottsdale woman who struck and killed a bicyclist with her SUV last month, has paid a $420 fine for the two civil-traffic violations she received. Police say that 53-year-old Shawn McCarty was wearing a helmet and riding in the bike lane on Thompson Peak Parkway when Alexander's...

By Ray Stern

April 19, 2012

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Amy Alexander, the Scottsdale woman who struck and killed a bicyclist with her SUV last month, has paid a $420 fine for the two civil-traffic violations she received.

Police say that 53-year-old Shawn McCarty was wearing a helmet and riding in the bike lane on Thompson Peak Parkway when Alexander's Chevy Tahoe smashed into him from behind. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

She was cited for driving in a bike lane and unsafe passing of a bicycle. Court officials confirmed that Alexander paid a total fine of $420 for both tickets.

What's still unclear is why Alexander drove into the bike lane and struck McCarty. Police say she wasn't impaired and chalked it up to "inattention."

But Alexander, who's husband is an attorney, invoked her right to remain silent when authorities showed up to the scene, cops say.

New Times requested the 911 tape and police report, but Scottsdale police haven't released either yet.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.