Driver who called Ga. State Rep. instead of 911 after hitting, killing cyclist found guilty

POLK COUNTY, Ga. — A driver accused of hitting a bicyclist and leaving him to die in a ditch has been convicted.

According to Polk County court records, Ralph “Ryan” Dover III was found guilty Tuesday of his role in a deadly hit-and-run.

Channel 2 Action News reported that on Sept. 11, 2019, Eric Keais, 38, was riding his bike on Main Street in Cedartown when Dover hit him.

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Keais died in a ditch of his injuries more than an hour after the collision, according to police.

Polk County authorities told Channel 2 Action News that instead of calling 911, Dover called state Rep. Trey Kelley.

Kelley told authorities he met up with Dover. Kelley claims it seemed Dover thought he hit an animal.

The two then drove back to the crash site and later found the bike but no victim, Kelley told police at the time.

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Authorities said when they got to the scene, Kelley also didn’t call 911. He called Police Chief Jamie Newsome at home.

Documents show the chief didn’t call 911, either. He sent one of his sergeants to the scene.

Kelley was indicted in Dec. 2020 on misdemeanor charges that alleged that he wrongly ignored the crash however, the charges were dropped later that month.

“The hit and run statute does not apply to Kelley because he was not the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident, in the vehicle or at the scene at the time of the accident,” Polk County Superior Court Senior Judge Stephen Schuster wrote. “The law imposes no duty upon Kelley to contact law enforcement.”

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Dover was found guilty of reckless conduct and a hit-and-run resulting in serious injury or death. He will be sentenced in August.

Kelley released a statement about the crash:

“It is heartbreaking that our community has experienced a tragedy like this. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the victim and the families involved. After getting messages from so many, I wanted to tell my story regarding the evening of September 11, 2019.

“That night I received a call from a Polk County citizen who I had seen earlier in the night at the Polk County Fair. This individual worked at a local supermarket, is well liked and is known to have limited mental capacity. He was agitated and upset because he had been involved in an accident and thought he may have hit an animal with his car. After trying unsuccessfully to calm him down and find out what he may have hit, I still had no idea what had happened. At that time, I felt the right thing to do was to go to his location to try to find out what had happened. So, I put my boots back on, and got in my truck. After arriving and driving up and down the road, I saw nothing that indicated a life or death situation, but when I saw a bike located in the ditch off the right side of the roadway, I felt the right thing to do was to call the police and that is what I did. At that time, I still did not know another human being was involved. I fully cooperated with law enforcement at the scene and in the ongoing investigation as a witness and will continue to do so.”

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