A 25-year-old Columbus cyclist, Dion Watts, has died after a Porsche Cayenne struck him from behind while he rode southbound on Kenny Road on Thursday evening, November 5, and Columbus police say they are still working to determine exactly how the crash unfolded. The Columbus Police Accident Investigation Unit is leading the investigation, and no criminal charges had been filed as of Friday evening.

Source: WSYX ABC 6 Columbus reporting

According to Columbus police, the crash happened at about 6:39 p.m. on Thursday on Kenny Road, just north of Preston Avenue, on the city's northwest side near Ohio State University. Watts was riding his bicycle southbound when a southbound 2021 Porsche Cayenne struck him from behind. He was thrown from his bicycle in the collision.

Columbus police rushed Watts to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, but he did not survive his injuries. Reports based on the police account say he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 7:37 p.m., less than an hour after the crash.

What police say about the driver — suspicion, not charges

Reports citing Columbus police identify the driver of the Cayenne as Daniel Lhota, 59, of Upper Arlington. Police investigators suspect Lhota was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision, and a warrant was obtained for a blood draw; the crash report described him as physically impaired. These are police suspicions at this stage of the investigation — they are not findings, and as of the evening of Friday, November 6, no criminal charges had been filed against the driver.

Police have not released further details about the driver or the exact circumstances leading up to the crash, and investigators say they are still working to determine precisely how Watts died after being hit by the car — including the sequence of the impact on a road that is a routine cycling route on the northwest side.

Police ask the public for help

Because the investigation remains open, Columbus police are asking anyone with knowledge of the vehicle or the driver, or who saw the crash on Kenny Road on Thursday evening, to contact the Accident Investigation Unit at (614) 645-4767. People who wish to remain anonymous may instead reach Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-8477.

The second cyclist killed on Columbus streets this year in the reports' account

Watts's death adds to a pattern that Columbus-area reporting has tracked through 2026. In an earlier incident on May 29, 2026, NBC4 reported that another cyclist was struck and killed by two vehicles on a Friday morning near Cleveland Avenue and East 5th Avenue, north of downtown. Police said that cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, and Cleveland Avenue was closed between East 5th and Essex Avenues while that investigation continued.

Thursday's crash happened in the early-evening darkness of November, at 6:39 p.m., on a tree-lined residential stretch of Kenny Road — conditions in which a cyclist travelling in the same direction as traffic depends entirely on the driver behind seeing and passing safely. What investigators establish about speed, lighting and impairment will decide what happens next in this case.