Couple’s Wine Country trip turns tragic

What started as a joyous day of wine tasting turned to tragedy this week in St. Helena when a woman was killed in a bike accident after returning to the Napa Valley to celebrate her wedding anniversary.

Maria Crozier, a 31- yearold mother of three from Cleveland, and her husband, 38- year- old Brad Crozier, had been wine tasting on Tuesday afternoon when Maria Crozier lost control of her loaner bicycle after departing a winery, slammed into a truck and was run over, police said.

She was killed instantly, one year to the day that she was married.

Maria Crozier — who did not appear to be intoxicated, according to investigators — had a master’s degree in business administration and was a manager at PolyOne Corp. in Ohio, according to her LinkedIn page. Friends reached out on her Facebook page, expressing sympathy to her family.

“You will live forever in our hearts and minds,” one friend wrote. “We will never forget you. God bless you and your family. I’m so sorry.”

“Prayers for all the family. No words, just tears,” anoth-

er friend wrote.

“This is one of the more tragic things I’ve seen in my career,” said St. Helena police Sgt. Matt Talbott, who responded to the scene to interview witnesses and piece together what happened.

It was 1: 40 p. m., he said, when the couple left Merryvale Vineyards on bicycles loaned out from the Harvest Inn, where the couple had been married and were staying for their anniversary.

Maria Crozier was coming out of a driveway onto Main Street, a section of Highway 29 that cuts through the center of town roughly half a mile north of the hotel. Witnesses said it appeared she had been unable to stop before she hit the side of a northbound box truck and was propelled under the back wheels, Talbott said.

“The truck driver behind him said she appeared wobbly with her feet out — just completely out of control,” Talbott said. “Another witness heard her say, ‘ Oh my God,’ before she hit the truck.”

The driver, who was in stop- and- go traffic during a busy time of day when vehicles typically drive 5 to 10 mph, didn’t see what happened, police said. He stopped after he felt the truck run over something and was cooperating with investigators.

“He was just really wandering in shock,” Talbott said. “All he knew is the back of his truck had gone over something. He pulled over instantly and got out and checked.”

The bike was custom built with a road bike frame and wheels and a cruiser- style handle bar with a single- lever front brake, Talbott said after inspecting the twisted frame.

“The bike had functioning brakes,” Talbott said. “Why she didn’t apply the brakes I don’t know.”

Investigators don’t believe alcohol was a factor in the accident. Brad Crozier had no symptoms of intoxication and indicated that his wife had not consumed more than a few tastes that afternoon, police said. Authorities, though, will perform a toxicology screening.

“It could not be more tragic,” Talbott said. “I really feel bad for the husband.”