73-year-old pleads guilty for hit-and-run crash

A 73-year-old Iowa woman who collided with a cyclist in June and then drove away pleaded guilty Wednesday to leaving the scene of an accident — a class-four felony.

Des Moines resident Peggy Brown on June 14 was driving a Mazda sedan in Loveland, police said previously. As 40-year-old Jeffrey Wicks of Fort Collins was riding his bike south through a green light at the intersection of Taft Avenue and 29th Street, Brown turned in front of him, and he hit the sedan's right rear quarter panel.

Wicks was treated and transported to an area hospital with serious injuries, police said.

"While 'the accident' is beginning to seem distant, the details of the day are crisp in my mind," wrote Wicks' wife, Kerry, in an online blog that has tracked the case. "Jeff still has absolutely no memory of impact or the nine of the 11 hospital days that ensued. In fact, he barely remembers the morning he embarked on a 4-hour ride."

Police said Brown stopped briefly and then left the scene of the crash. A witness followed Brown and called police, who later stopped and arrested her.

Kerry Wicks has said in posts that she hopes Brown is ordered to develop some sort of service project to learn from the crash. She has also lobbied that the woman's license be taken away and has stressed that prison would not be fitting.

Brown pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and careless driving resulting in injury. She is due in court for sentencing Jan. 30.

Reporter Jason Pohl covers breaking news for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason.