Topeka attorney Paul Post to eventually return to cycling after hit-and-run driver struck him Monday

Longtime Topeka attorney and cyclist Paul Post says he plans to eventually return to cycling after suffering serious injuries when a hit-and-run driver struck him Monday southwest of Topeka.

"I won't be back on the bike for a long time, but I will, eventually," said Post, 72. "The person who hit me is not going to make me give up something I enjoy."

The driver was subsequently arrested, said Shawnee County Sheriff Brian C. Hill.

Cyclist hadn't seen vehicle that hit him

Post feels lucky to be alive after the crash, in which he suffered seven broken ribs, he told The Capital-Journal on Thursday evening.

Post said his other injuries included the following:

• A severe laceration to his left calf.

• Road rash to both arms, from hitting the pavement.

• A broken left fibula, which is a small bone in the lower leg, which will require surgery.

• Frequent back spasms.

Post said that after cold and snowy conditions had recently kept him off the road, he'd been excited about being able to ride Monday, when the National Weather Service reported Topeka saw a high temperature of 71 degrees.

Post said he was riding with a friend when he was struck by part of a vehicle that was passing them on the left. Post hadn't seen the vehicle before he was hit, he said.

Sheriff's office made arrest

Hill said the crash was reported at 1:51 p.m. Monday in the 5500 block of S.W. Burlingame Road, where a silver vehicle left the scene.

The sheriff's office later Monday afternoon put out a request for information from the public to help it identify and locate the driver and vehicle, which it said was missing its passenger's side rear-view mirror.

Sheriff's office investigators then identified the driver as James R. Cunningham, 50, of Alma, who was arrested at his home, Hill said Wednesday.

Cunningham was booked into the Shawnee County Jail in connection with failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily harm and failure to stop at the scene of an accident causing injury or damage over $1,000, Hill said.

Cunningham was released from the jail at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday after a $5,000 bond was posted, according to jail records. Formal charges haven't been filed against him.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka attorney and cyclist suffers broken bones in hit-and-run crash