courtesy of the morning sun

A Sherman Township woman is scheduled to be arraigned next month in Isabella County Trial Court in connection with the death of a Mt. Pleasant bicyclist.

Isabella County Prosecutor Risa Hunt-Scully issued an arrest warrant naming Abigail Kay Hebert, 29, with operating while intoxicated causing death, a 15-year felony; and a moving violation causing death, a one-year misdemeanor.

Magistrate Sandra Straus is set to arraign Hebert on the charges at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 8.

Hebert is accused of hitting Michael James Seaman, 53, of Mt. Pleasant while he was bicycling on East River Road near Deer Run in Union Township June 27.

Seaman, known in the bicycling community as being the best in Mt. Pleasant, died a day later at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland.

Troopers from the state police post in Mt. Pleasant were called to the scene of the accident at 8:25 p.m. June 27, and determined that Seaman was legally in the road and had full right-of-way, according to court documents.

Hebert said she did not see Seaman and hit his bicycle from behind as they were both traveling west, with Seaman on the westbound shoulder of the road, according to court records.

At the time of the accident, troopers said Hebert smelled “mildly of intoxicants” and admitted to drinking before she drove, according to court documents.

She consented to a blood test that later showed her blood-alcohol level to be .09, above the legal .08 threshold, according to court records.

A “ghost bicycle” still stands, near a utility pole near Deer Run, representing Seaman’s last ride.

It is surrounded by bouquets of flowers and other memorials to Seaman, whose death was a loss to the Mt. Pleasant bicycling community.

Lisa Hadden of the Mid Michigan Cycling Club said Seaman rode in all of the Le Tour races in Mt. Pleasant and was a USA Cycling official who participated in many Cyclocross races,

Hadden, executive director of the Mid Michigan Area Health Education Center at Central Michigan University, said Seaman was not focused on winning races but on the joy of the ride, which everyone loved about him.

“He also helped create and design the course for the Le Frost course,” she said, referring to the Cyclocross race held in December. “He was either riding on the road or hanging out in Motorless Motion.

Bicyclists have just as much right to be on the road as motor vehicle, and the cycling community must also obey traffic laws, Hadden said.

Saying Seaman was “truly a cycling icon in Mt. Pleasant,” Hadden said he lived for cycling, be it races or riding on his own.

Another friend from the cycling community, Scott Daigle, also spoke of Seaman after his death, noting that he built his life around “experiencing the joys of physical challenges; biking, skiing, paddling and others.”

Bicyclists held a “last ride” after Seaman died, taking the ghost bike to the scene of the accident.