Friends remember biker killed in hit-and-run
The flower and letter memorial grows outside the United Methodist Church in Lake Worth Beach. This is where James Beloian, 74, was killed while standing outside the church on Friday afternoon. “I wanted to bring him to life. I’m a nurse and I couldn’t save him,” Beloian’s friend Kathleen Kramer told WPBF 25 News. What was supposed to be a Friday bike ride with Kramer and Beloian ended in tragedy. “I alternate between crying and having this vision of his mutilated body here. We had just stopped for lunch and when we were done having lunch he said ‘isn’t that fun? He was so happy and his life was needlessly killed,” Kramer said. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said a driver of a 2004 Toyota Matrix attempted to make a left turn onto South 12th Avenue. However , because it was traveling at high speed, deputies say the driver left the road and crashed into the church.Officials said there were four people inside the car and that the driver and another person fled before deputies arrived at the scene. Investigators said two other passengers spoke to them, but did not identify the driver.” been targeted? We don’t know, maybe we never will. But he was a good man and he touched so many people’s lives, in such a positive way,” Kramer said. Relatives told WPBF 25 News that Beloian had a great personality and a passion for cycling. “I met him when I broke down, a pedal broke my cut-price bike and he said ‘what do you do with that piece of junk?’ and I said ‘I don’t know, I’m just driving it, driving it.’ And he said ‘Let’s get you a decent bike’ and I upgraded my bike and became a road cyclist,” Beloian’s friend Larry Baker said. “He’s a very accomplished cyclist and he introduced so many people to cycling. He circled every Great Lake,” Kramer said. Beloian and his friends also share the same license plate, “Bike A1A”. “We rode bikes with him almost every day. He picked the routes and we were off. Every day was an adventure,” Baker said. “We cycle forever with you.” Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
The flower and letter memorial grows outside the United Methodist Church in Lake Worth Beach. This is where James Beloian, 74, was killed while standing outside the church on Friday afternoon.
“I wanted to bring him to life. I’m a nurse and I couldn’t save him,” Beloian’s friend Kathleen Kramer told WPBF 25 News.
What was supposed to be a Friday bike ride with Kramer and Beloian ended in tragedy.
“I alternate between crying and having this vision of his mutilated body here. We had just stopped for lunch and when we were done having lunch he said ‘isn’t that fun? He was so happy and his life was needlessly killed,” Kramer said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said a driver of a 2004 Toyota Matrix attempted to turn left onto 12th Avenue South. However, because he was traveling at high speed, deputies say the driver left the road and crashed into the church. Officials said there were four people inside the car and the driver and another person fled before deputies arrived at the scene.
Investigators said two other passengers spoke to them, but did not identify the driver.
“Was he targeted? We don’t know, maybe we’ll never know. But he was a good man and he touched the lives of so many people, in such a positive way,” Kramer said.
Relatives told WPBF 25 News that Beloian has a big personality and a passion for cycling.
“I met him when I broke down, a pedal broke my cut-price bike and he said ‘what do you do with that piece of junk?’ and I said ‘I don’t know, I’m just driving it, driving it.’ And he said ‘Let’s go get you a decent bike’ and I upgraded my bike and became a road biker,” said Beloian’s friend Larry Baker.
“He’s a very accomplished cyclist and he’s introduced so many people to cycling. He’s ridden every Great Lake,” Kramer said.
Beloian and his friends also share the same license plate, “Bike A1A”.
“We rode bikes with him almost every day. He picked the routes and we were off. Every day was an adventure,” Baker said. “We cycle forever with you.”
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.