A 17-year-old Corfu resident was killed Sunday evening after a bicycle he was riding on Tesnow Road in the town of Alabama was struck by a vehicle and the youth was ejected from the bike.
Arthur G. Breton, III, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Breton was riding his bike north in the northbound lane in the area of 7824 Tesnow Road at 6:38 p.m. when he was struck.
Daphne C. Sundown, 37, of Basom, with her son as a passenger, were also northbound on Tesnow, driving a 2022 black Chevy Blazer, when the vehicle crested a hill over a knoll in the road, according to the Sheriff's Office. Sundown was unable to see Breton and struck his bike with the front driver side of her vehicle.
Sundown and her son immediately exited her vehicle and began rendering aid while calling 9-1-1.
Alabama Fire and Pembroke Fire departments personnel, along with Mercy EMS, responded to the scene and performed life-saving measures. Breton succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
Drugs and alcohol have been ruled out as a factor in the accident.
The crash is being investigated by members of the Sheriff's Office along with the Crash Management Team.
Besides emergency responders, several bystanders assisted at the scene.
UPDATE: Superintendent Matthew Calderon confirmed that Breton was a senior at Pembroke High School. He sent the following message to the school community:
I am writing to share difficult news.
Last night, one of our high school students, Arthur Bretan III, was struck by a car while riding his bicycle, and he died as a result of the accident. Arthur was well-liked by many and enjoyed his participation in band. Today and this week, our district’s Trauma, Illness & Grief Team will be implementing a support plan for students and staff. Specially trained grief counselors are onsite to assist. This morning during first period, we informed all junior-senior high school students about Arthur's death to provide correct information and to inform them how and where to get support throughout the day if they need support.
We encourage students to remain at school where they can access grief support services. If students ask to go home, we strongly suggest that they be supervised by adults, who can best provide guidance and support during this difficult time. There will be a variety of emotional and/or behavioral responses, and it is normal to experience feelings of disbelief, sadness, anger, confusion or even numbness when learning about a loss such as this. Our children will benefit from our extra love and support to process this difficult news. The link below may provide some helpful information to assist you:Guidelines for Supporting Your Child During Grief
Our community always comes together to love and support one another through these hard times, and I am confident we will be there for each other once again.
