Baltimore cyclists are gathering and riding through the city tonight in memory of 20-year-old Aaron Laciny, starting near the very spot where he was killed late last month.
The ride will begin at Eddie’s of Roland Park (the one on N. Charles Street, not Roland Avenue), close to where Laciny was struck by multiple cars during an evening ride on June 19. The group will then move through Roland Park and down W. University Parkway to the edge of the Johns Hopkins University campus before heading back up.
Laciny was biking southbound in the left lane of N. Charles Street, just above the city-county line, on June 19 when he was fatally hit by two cars, police said. They spoke with at least one of the drivers, who remained behind at the scene and recalled running over some debris. However, police haven’t tracked down the driver who they believe initially hit Laciny, and who was depicted in gas station surveillance footage heading away from the accident, despite ongoing pleas from community members for the person to step forward, and a reward of up to $2,000 for tips leading to his or her arrest.
The route tonight will cover some of the same territory that Laciny likely used to traverse on his bike. His loved ones and colleagues have mourned him in the weeks since he was killed, celebrating his warm nature and prowess as a late-blooming academic wiz. His sister wrote in a letter that, despite the fact that he never officially graduated from high school, he recorded a 4.0 GPA and was recognized for his research while earning his associate’s degree at Baltimore City Community College.
He was in the process of applying to four-year undergrad programs, and had recently begun a paid internship studying how to design and build inexpensive solar cells and optical sensors at the NanoEnergy Laboratory in Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering. His boss and instructor, Assistant Professor Susanna Thon, told the Hopkins Hub that Laciny “was one of the best undergrads I’ve ever mentored.”
Cycling advocacy group Bikemore wrote on its website on Friday that its members are “deeply concerned that a driver so callous and dangerous is still out there — driving a car and putting others [sic] lives at risk.”
“We believe identifying the driver of the vehicle will also bring Aaron’s loved ones closure. As advocates, it’s important we fight for people who bike — especially the victims of fatal crashes and their loved ones,” the group wrote.
In addition to helping organize the memorial ride, Bikemore is also raising money to try to up the reward for tips that will help police arrest the driver responsible for killing Laciny. To donate, click here.
The memorial ride starts tonight at 7 p.m., and is expected to last an hour to an hour and a half. Click here for a detailed map of the route.
