Crime & Safety

Middletown Bicyclist Hit By Car Confirmed Dead, Police Say

Elliot Kaminitz, 65, succumbed to his injuries after being struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle on Tuesday afternoon.

Medical examiners have officially confirmed the death of the bicyclist who was on Tuesday afternoon, police officials said.

Elliot Kaminitz, 65, a retired dentist from Middletown, was transported to Rhode Island Hospital on Tuesday for severe head trauma.

Sara Martineau, 38, of New Bedford, MA, was driving the car that reportedly hit Kaminitz while he was riding his bicycle near Old Beach Road around 1:15 p.m. Martineau has not faced any charges related to the incident.

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The investigation is on-going, but police do not believe Martineau was using her cell phone during the time of the accident, Lt. William Fitzgerald said.

At the time of the accident, Kaminitz was wearing a helmet and traveling in the westbound lane on Memorial Boulevard toward Newport.

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“Elliot was out on his usual daily ride — which he has done for decades,” Kaminitz's son-in-law Jon Strasser said in an email. Strasser said Kaminitz was “an extremely cautious biker, always wearing a helmet, signaling his intentions to passing motorists, and staying to the side.

“This family is just completely devastated — to lose a young vibrant loved one.”

Funeral arrangements have been made for Friday, June 22 at 11 a.m. at the Hoffman Chapel on Fowler Ave., in Newport followed by burial at Beth Olam on Wyatt Road in Middletown. 

Police have asked anyone who witnessed the incident to contact detectives at (401) 847-8300.


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