Reserve DNR officer charged in hit-and-run bicycle fatality

A reserve state Department of Natural Resources officer is facing a hit-and-run charge in connection with a collision that took the life a man riding a bicycle on James Island Friday night.

Jeffery Lewis Thomas, 46, of Oakhurst Drive, Mount Pleasant, is charged with leaving the scene of an wreck resulting in death, according to a news release from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

Thomas was released from the Cannon Detention Center on $20,000 bail set today by Charleston County Magistrate Priscilla Baldwin.

About 10:30 p.m. Friday, the Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a collision between a 2001 Ford Explorer and a bicycle on Riverland Drive near the entrance to Charleston County Park, sheriff’s Maj. Jim Brady said in the release.

The bicyclist, identified by Charleston County Deputy Coroner Kelly Kraus as Matthew Denton, 40, of James Island, died at the scene of traumatic injuries received when his bicycle was struck.

Investigators think Thomas was driving the Explorer that struck the bicyclist, that he got out and checked on him before getting back into the SUV and driving away, the release said. He returned to the scene 30 to 40 minutes later.

Thomas is a deputy law enforcmenent officer with the DNR, according to Lt. Robert McCullough, a DNR supervisor.

Thomas’ position with DNR is unpaid and he served on a volunteer basis, McCullough said. He will not be serving in his reserve capacity while the charge is pending, McCullough said.

The cause of the collision is currently under investigation, the release said.

Traffic on Riverland Drive was detoured while investigators worked the scene. The road was cleared around 11:15 p.m.

Denton, according to his profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn, owned a fiber optics cable company and had developed several other businesses.