The man who drove his car into 10 cyclists riding in the El Tour De Tucson race on Saturday, November 22, hasn’t been found yet. One of the cyclists is in the hospital suffering from severe head injuries as a result of the collision. Fox 11 News spoke to a friend of the victim who not only saw the accident, but also got hit.

It was an exciting day with 9,000 El Tour cyclists flying down the road with adrenaline rushing, and the weather near-perfect. “We felt great,” says Gene Landers. “We felt we were going to beat last year’s time by 30 minutes.”

It was Landers’ second El Tour. He and his friend signed up to complete the full 109 miles, but at mile 58, the day changed in an instant when a car came out of nowhere. “Apparently the driver of the vehicle stopped at the scene initially, got out of his vehicle, checked the damage, looked at the bicycles, then got in his vehicle and fled,” says Pima County Sheriff’s Deputy Dawn Barkman.

Landers says he didn’t see that part. “At that time, we just scattered to try and avoid hitting the car, and I hit the passenger’s door with my back and my head,” he says. Fortunately, Landers walked away without a scratch.

“Then I looked around and I saw bodies all over the place, and I found my friend lying in the street unconscious, bleeding from his head,” he says. Landers’ friend, 42-year old Garry Stuebe of Surprise, Arizona, is in intensive care at the hospital.

Landers thinks the accident didn’t have to happen. “There was definite negligence on this officer’s part,” he says. “She was over off to the side. Other witnesses said she was chit-chatting with people and not paying attention.”

Pima County Sheriff’s Deputies say they’re investigating all aspects of the collision. Investigators say the driver in question is a man, six-feet tall, weighing 190 pounds, with short hair and glasses. He was driving either a gold or silver Honda or Toyota. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME.