Bicyclist Killed In OC Hit-And-Run ID'd As Youth Pastor, 'Devoted' Father & Husband

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — A bicyclist who was killed in a Huntington Beach hit-and-run was identified this week as a Garden Grove man, while the woman suspected of his death was charged Wednesday for the crash.

Amber Kristine Calderon was charged with a count of hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury and two counts of failing to stop at a hit-and-run crash with injury or death, all felonies.

Huntington Beach police were called just after 6:45 a.m. Monday to Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street, where three cyclists were struck by a vehicle, police said.

Eric John Williams, 45, of Garden Grove, was pronounced dead at the scene and two other cyclists were taken to hospitals to be treated for significant injuries, police said.

According to a GoFundMe post from Williams' family, Williams was a founder of Community Church of West Garden Grove and also a youth teaching pastor at Seaside Community Church. He had just celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary with his wife and was a father of three daughters and a son.

"Eric was a Godly man with a heart for Jesus and for people," Family member Rachelle Coy told Patch. "He spent his life serving others — first as a youth and teaching pastor at Seaside Community Church, and later as the founder of Community Church of West Garden Grove. He was kind, funny, and steady in his faith, always lifting others up."

Calderon was driving a 2006 Mercedes E-Class car that struck the bicyclists, who were in a bike lane, and she kept driving for about half a mile before stopping, authorities said.