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CHP Searches for Hit-and-Run Driver After Cyclist Killed in Santa Clarita

Authorities were searching for a hit-and-run driver after a bicyclist was struck and killed in the Santa Clarita area Wednesday.

The California Highway Patrol said authorities were in search of a silver Mazda 3 or Lexus sedan with a white roof rack and a possible broken windshield after a cyclist was struck and killed on Placerita Canyon Road, east of the Antelope Valley 14 Freeway.

The crash occurred at 4:40 p.m. The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was later identified as Rod Bennett of Valencia, a math and band teacher at Arroyo Seco Junior High School in Santa Clarita.

"I didn't see it until it came flying by me," Ronald Miller, a resident who lives nearby, said of a vehicle he believed was fleeing from the crash. "It was a foreign car with the front bumper torn off of it! I thought, you were in one wreck already."

Miller shared the information with CHP.

CHP asked any drivers who spot the vehicle to call 911.

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Beverly White contributed to this report.

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