For the Tribune

NORTH VERNON — A bicyclist died after losing control of his bicycle and traveling into the path of a vehicle.

Indiana State Police troopers were called to the accident at 9 p.m. Saturday in the Country Squire Lakes neighborhood, said Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, Indiana State Police spokesman.

A State Police Versailles District crash reconstruction team determined Robert A. King, 50, of North Vernon, was riding a bicycle south on Dorchester Place approaching Country Squire Boulevard, when, for an unknown reason, he lost control of the bike, Wheeles said.

King went into the intersection into the path of a northbound 2006 Jeep Liberty driven by Timothy M. Small, 31, of North Vernon, Wheeles said.

King fell off the bicycle and then was struck by Small’s vehicle, accident reconstructionists at the scene determined, Wheeles said. King was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jennings County coroner’s office, Wheeles said.

King’s cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and the coroner’s office is not planning an autopsy, said Alden Rudicel, Jennings County deputy coroner. Toxicology tests are pending for King and results are expected back in three to four weeks, he said. Rudicel said King lived in the general area of Country Squire Lakes.

The Indiana State Police crash reconstruction team is still determining the circumstances of the accident, including the speed of Small’s vehicle, Wheeles said. Investigators also are trying to confirm why King was riding his bicycle in the area, he said.

Assisting at the scene were the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, Geneva Fire Department and Jennings County Emergency Medical Services.