Suspect arraigned in Guerneville hit-and-run fatal

The Rio Nido man is suspected in the weekend crash that killed a UC Berkeley lawyer.|
PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A Rio Nido man suspected in the hit-and-run death of a cyclist made his first court appearance Thursday but postponed entering a plea.

Jonathan Robert Murray Ritter, 28, was arrested two days after the Sunday morning crash on Highway 116 near Guerneville that killed UC Berkeley attorney Christopher Patti, 59.

Ritter, who has a record of vandalism and public drunkenness, was believed to be driving a borrowed black BMW sedan that hit Patti as he was stopped on his bike on the shoulder of the road. Ritter drove away and abandoned the car nearby, deputies said.

He was arrested in Monte Rio on Tuesday.

Judge Robert LaForge set his bail at $1 million and appointed a lawyer from the Public Defender’s Office to represent him. Ritter will return to court Sept. 21 to enter a plea.

-Paul Payne

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