Mercury News: DUI driver sentenced to 19 years in prison for death of Mtn. View cyclist

Santa Clara County Judge Rise Jones Pichon gave 19 years in prison to a Fremont felon today who capped a meth binge by lethally smashing his Oldsmobile head-on into an engineer who was spinning his bike through the sunny Palo Alto Hills. Chevelle Bailey, 42, who downed a Coors right after crushing 31-year-old John Peckham to death and then tried to walk away, pleaded no contest in October to vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence while causing injury and a hit-and-run charge. Bailey’s no contest plea was the legal equivalent of a guilty plea.

Court records allege that Bailey was high on methamphetamine and alcohol when his car hit Peckham, a Mountain View amateur bike racer, on Old Page Mill Road at an estimated 60 to 90 mph. In a crowded court in Palo Alto about a mile away from the accident, the suspect sat with his head down as Peckham’s mother and Bailey’s sister told the judge of their grief.

Peckham was on a training ride with his bike club members Sept. 8 when he ventured ahead of the group and was hit by Bailey. Court records show that Bailey continued driving before crashing his car down an embankment. Witnesses told police that Bailey opened a beer after the crash and said: “I thought I was going to die, but I got out of the car like a soldier, cracked a beer and downed it.”