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Driver suspected of DUI in crash that killed bicyclist

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A Fountain Valley man was hit and killed by a motorist suspected of driving under the influence on Sunday in Newport Beach, police said.

Authorities said Neil Storm Stephany, 23, of Huntington Beach was traveling west on East Coast Highway in a Toyota Tacoma just before 5 p.m. when the vehicle hit 30-year-old Shaun Eagleson, who was riding a bicycle.

Police said Stephany left the scene without stopping.

Eagleson was taken to a local trauma center, where he died of his injuries that night.

Newport Beach police arrested Stephany near Newport Center Drive and East Coast Highway on suspicion of murder, driving under the influence, hit and run, possession of a narcotic and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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Stephany was convicted in 2011 of driving with a blood-alcohol level higher than the legal limit of 0.08%, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

In California, a previous DUI conviction and required alcohol education are considered “an adequate indicator to suggest implied malice in subsequent DUI arrests involving the death of another party,” according to a Newport Beach Police Department news release.

Stephany is being held at Orange County Jail. Bail was initially set at $100,000 but later revoked, according to court records.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police Investigator Eric Little at (949) 644-3746.

—Hannah Fry

@HannahFryTCN

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