Lawsuit Filed Against Mercedes Driver in Fatal Accident

The heirs of a Finderne bicyclist killed in an accident in 2011 have filed a wrongful death suit against the driver of the car struck him.

The heirs of Ramiro Navarro Alvarado, who lived on Second Street, have filed a civil suit in Somerset County Superior Court against Sean Gieda, 30, of Holman Court. The heirs and the executor of Alvarado estate, are all residents of Costa Rica.

According to the lawsuit, Alvarado, 54, was riding his L.L. Bean bicycle westbound on East Main Street near Morton Street in Finderne at about 2 a.m. Aug. 16, 2011 when he was struck by Gieda, who was driving a red 1992, four-door Mercedes Benz that was also traveling westbound on East Main Street.

The collision knocked Alvarado and his bike onto the grass on the north side of the road and Alvarado continued to slide along the ground before he came to a rest on the front lawn of 739 East Main St., according to the lawsuit.

Gieda fled the scene. Alvarado was not found until four hours late and he was pronounced dead at 6:09 a.m.

When police at the scene found a damaged red plastic trailer cover that appeared to belong to a Mercedes Benz, authorities asked for the public’s help in locating the vehicle. A tip led police to Holman Court where found a red Mercedes Benz, with damage to its front passenger side headlight assembly and a plastic garbage bag taped to the passenger side front windshield.

Geida turned himself into the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office later that week and was charged with the second-degree crime of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. After pleading guilty to the charge he was sentenced on June 8, 2012 to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Robert Reed.

Geida was paroled after serving little more than one year of the sentence on June 26.