The Republic - Not guilty plea by woman who drove car that struck, killed bicycling Indiana police officer

NEW CASTLE, Ind. — A woman who was driving a car that struck and killed an Indiana police officer as he rode his bicycle at night has pleaded not guilty to leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Sixty-one-year-old Sue Ann Vanderbeck of Indianapolis entered the plea Tuesday in court in New Castle.

The accident happened Sept. 30 on an unlit stretch of U.S. 40, about 25 miles east of Indianapolis. Thirty-two-year-old Greenfield police officer William Phillips was on an exercise ride with two other officers when he was hit.

Vanderbeck surrendered four days later. Her lawyer has said she was distracted by one of her children and didn't stop because she panicked.

WTHR-TV says Vanderbeck is a critical care nurse at Methodist Hospital.