Denver Police are searching for a driver who struck an e-bike rider on North Brighton Boulevard near 28th Street in RiNo on Friday and then fled, leaving investigators with only a partial description of the vehicle involved. The suspect car is believed to be a blue Subaru from model years 2011 to 2014, and the driver was reportedly traveling south on North Brighton Boulevard at the time of the crash.
According to 9News, Denver Police are asking anyone with information about the driver or the vehicle to come forward. The department has not released additional details about the condition of the e-bike rider or the exact circumstances of the collision, leaving open questions about whether it happened within the corridor's protected bike lane or at a nearby intersection.
A Corridor Built for Safety, With a Troubled Past
The stretch of Brighton Boulevard where the crash occurred is no ordinary city street. It underwent a $41 million reconstruction completed in 2018 that installed raised, protected cycle tracks specifically designed to separate bicyclists and e-bike riders from vehicle traffic, according to Streetsblog Denver. The corridor was engineered as a flagship multi-modal link between downtown Denver and the National Western Center.
Despite that investment, the same stretch of RiNo has seen tragedy before. In March 2016, a bicyclist was struck and killed in a hit-and-run collision at 29th Street and Brighton Boulevard — just one block from Friday's crash site — as reported by CBS Colorado. Denver Police in that case eventually located the suspect driver miles away in the Swansea neighborhood.
E-Bikes Are Booming Across Denver
The collision comes as e-bike ridership continues to surge across the city. Denver's municipal e-bike rebate program, run by the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency, has put more than 9,000 electric bikes on city streets since launching in April 2022, with 64% of vouchers claimed by lower- or moderate-income residents, per Smart Cities Dive. City data cited in that report shows e-bike trips now replace an estimated 100,000 car miles every week.
The RiNo crash also echoes a fatal case just across the metro area. In neighboring Aurora, police in August located a vehicle of interest — a 2015 to 2019 white Subaru Outback — connected to the July 26 hit-and-run death of 26-year-old bicyclist Arthur Williams, according to 9News. Aurora investigators relied on traffic cameras and Crime Stoppers tips to trace that vehicle, a similar approach Denver Police are likely to lean on as they search for the Subaru involved in Friday's crash.
Part of a Broader Late-Summer Pattern
Friday's crash adds to what has become a persistent pattern of hit-and-run investigations across central Denver this summer. During August alone, Denver Police investigated at least five severe pedestrian and vulnerable road user crashes, including a critical hit-and-run on 22nd Street near Blake Street in the nearby Ballpark district, Hoodline has previously reported.
Statewide, the numbers underscore the stakes. Colorado had recorded 349 traffic fatalities through late August 2026, following two straight years of more than 700 annual traffic deaths in 2024 and 2025. Even so, state law enforcement reported its best hit-and-run clearance rate in five years in mid-2026, with troopers crediting public tips and camera surveillance for the improvement.
Brighton Boulevard's Place on Denver's High-Injury Network
Brighton Boulevard sits on Denver's High-Injury Network under the city's Vision Zero initiative, launched in 2017 to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030, according to the Denver Streets Partnership. Local safety coalitions continue to push the city to accelerate upgrades on corridors like this one, even as investment in protected infrastructure has not eliminated the risk to cyclists and e-bike riders.
Public tips have repeatedly proven decisive in closing similar Denver cases. In August, police arrested a 20-year-old driver on suspicion of careless driving and fleeing the scene after the public came forward with critical information, illustrating how the department's Traffic Investigations Unit frequently depends on repair shop alerts and anonymous tips to identify suspects.
Anyone with information about the driver or the blue Subaru involved in Friday's crash is urged to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers, which offers anonymous cash rewards of up to $2,000 for tips that lead to an arrest and felony charges in Denver-area hit-and-run cases. Tips can be submitted by phone at 720-913-STOP or online; the nonprofit operates independently of tax dollars, funded entirely through private contributions.
Under Colorado law, leaving the scene of a crash that causes serious bodily injury is a Class 4 felony carrying potential state prison time and mandatory license revocation, according to FindLaw. Colorado law requires any driver involved in an injury crash to stop immediately, render aid, and exchange identifying information — obligations investigators say were not met in Friday's collision.
