Soma-Impaired Driver Gets Seven Years for Killing Bicyclist; Aaron Chubick Also Fled Scene

Image: Arizona Department of Corrections

Aaron Chubick was loaded on Soma two years ago when he ran over a bicyclist. He was sentenced last week to seven years in prison.

Aaron Chubick pleaded guilty in September to manslaughter and hit-and-run in the collision that killed Richard Markarian, a retired lab tech for General Electric who'd moved to Peoria in 1999.

At 65, Markarian was a fitness buff and early-bird who arose at 3 a.m. every morning to go on a bike ride. He was outfitted with lights and reflectors as he rolled down Beardsley Road near 91st Avenue on the morning of October 26, 2008, but the precautions didn't help.

Chubick, coming up behind him, was reportedly too plowed to stand up, much less drive.

The 2003 pickup hit a curb, then smashed into Markarian.

In one particularly chilling section of the police report on the collision, Chubick is reported to have seen Markarian still moving as he drove away.

The seven years of prison time stems from the manslaughter charge; he'll also serve three years' probation for the hit-and-run charge.

The toxicology report stated that Chubick had five or six times the "therapeutic" level of Soma in his system on the night of the collision. He'd also ingested the sleep-aids Lunesta and Ambien.

Too bad he didn't just go to bed.