Benjamin A. Vander Ploeg

A Grand Rapids man is being held on $200,000 bond in the Kent County Jail after he struck a bicyclist then left the scene in Cannon Township.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, the crash occurred on Wednesday, August 17, at 8:19 p.m. on Cannonsburg Road, east of Chauncey Avenue. Witnesses at the scene reported that a 66-year-old bicyclist, traveling westbound on the shoulder, had been struck from behind by a westbound white passenger car, who then left the scene.

The victim, Charles Lewis Driggers, 66, was transported by Aeromed to Spectrum Butterworth Hospital in critical condition.

Investigators with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office located and seized the vehicle involved in the crash, and charged Benjamin A. Vander Ploeg, of Grand Rapids, with driving while license suspended causing serious injury, and failing to stop at a serious injury accident in relation to this incident.