The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is looking for information on the driver in a hit-and-run Monday that left a Bloomington man dead, Monroe County Sheriff Brad Swain said.
Michael Brooks, 41, was pronounced dead at IU Health Bloomington Hospital at 11:02 p.m. Monday, Monroe County Coroner Joani Shields said in an email. An autopsy performed Tuesday in Terre Haute, Indiana, showed he died of blunt force trauma to the head.
A person driving on East Indiana State Road 45 called 911 Monday evening to report a man who looked to be bleeding and unresponsive along the side of the road, Swain said.
Swain said Brooks was alive when deputies arrived on scene, but he was not responsive. Deputies saw a damaged bicycle nearby and assumed the man was struck by a motor vehicle while biking.
A neighbor reported hearing a crash about 30 minutes earlier. The man said he didn’t look into it further because he looked outside and didn’t see anything.
Brooks was an employee at Upland Brewing Company Bloomington Brewpub. The brewery started a GoFundMe page for his family and children Thursday, which raised $2,930 in its first four hours.
The City of Bloomington Facebook page addressed the incident in a post early Thursday morning, extending condolences and apologizing for posting about the city’s bicycle safety the same day.
“As soon as the accident was brought to our attention, we hid the post from our timeline,” the Thursday post read. “As the post is part of the public record, we are required not to delete it.”
Swain said he encourages anyone who has information on the incident or sees cars with recent damage to make an anonymous call at 812-349-2727.
