{"id":43428,"date":"2021-12-04T01:07:42","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T08:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/la-plata-county-driver-who-hit-killed-professional-cyclist-gets-prison\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:13:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:13:44","slug":"la-plata-county-driver-who-hit-killed-professional-cyclist-gets-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/la-plata-county-driver-who-hit-killed-professional-cyclist-gets-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"La Plata County driver who hit, killed professional cyclist gets prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Klaus
Klaus Sonntag and his wife, Irmgard, along with their son, Daniel Sonntag, talk Friday outside the La Plata County Courthouse about the sentencing of Cordell Schneider, who was convicted of vehicular homicide in the death of Benjamin Sonntag. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A La Plata County man who was convicted of vehicular homicide in the death of professional cyclist Benjamin Sonntag was sentenced Friday to prison.<\/p>\n

\"Schneider\"
Schneider<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sixth Judicial District Judge William Herringer sentenced Cordell Schneider to three years in prison for vehicular homicide after he struck and killed Sonntag, a professional mountain biker, on a county road in March 2020.<\/p>\n

Herringer also sentenced Schneider to one year in jail for a bail violation and 90 days for reckless driving, but those sentences will be served at the same time as his three-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n

In an overflowing courtroom at the La Plata County Courthouse, Herringer outlined his decision, saying that he avoids sending people to prison, but he had to consider the seriousness of Schneider\u2019s crimes and his actions since the fatal crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to send you to prison, in part, because I want to see if that shakes you in a way that you really begin to truly get what has happened here,\u201d Herringer said.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the hourlong hearing, Sonntag\u2019s family and girlfriend, Sarah Alsgaard, spoke of their grief and the toll that Sonntag\u2019s death has taken on them.<\/p>\n

\"Benjamin
Benjamin Sonntag, a professional cyclist who lived in Durango, was killed March 4, 2020, while riding his bicycle in rural southwest La Plata County. Cordell Schneider, 19, of La Plata County, was driving the pickup that hit Sonntag. (Courtesy of Bill Schieken)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sonntag\u2019s parents, Irmgard and Klaus, and his brother, Daniel, traveled to Durango from Germany to attend the hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time that we are praying at our son\u2019s grave, we still see him before us,\u201d Klaus said, speaking through a translator.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sadness is never ending and our tears just won\u2019t dry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sonntag\u2019s brother, Patrick, spoke from Germany via video, recalling his brother as an uncle and a role model for his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will forever remain in our memory as this laughing, smiling, cheerful guy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Alsgaard, unable to hold back tears, said the death of Sonntag upended her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I want you to know is that Benjamin Sonntag was my person,\u201d Alsgaard told the judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost the unconditional love and support of a man I planned to spend the rest of my life with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Alsgaard and Sonntag\u2019s family expressed their hope that the judge would issue whatever justice possible after they said Schneider disregarded Sonntag\u2019s life and expressed no remorse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only right thing to do is to get (Schneider) into jail even if it doesn\u2019t bring Ben back,\u201d Klaus said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a ticking time bomb for society, and it would just be a matter of time and place to see when and where the next such incident would occur,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Schneider) has still not admitted to being culpable. This is driving me insane,\u201d Patrick Sonntag said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we can see, Mr. Schneider is a repeat offender, and we hope that another family does not suffer the way that we did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Schneider was arrested in March 2020 on suspicion of hitting and killing Sonntag on County Road 105 west of Marvel, in western La Plata County.<\/p>\n

Schneider was driving a green Ford Ranger an estimated 65 mph in a 35 mph zone southbound on the dirt road when he collided with Sonntag, who was riding his 2019 Specialized S-Works Tarmac bike northbound.<\/p>\n

Sonntag, 39, was a German national who had lived in Durango since 2007 and graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2010. The professional cyclist was a pillar of the Durango cycling community and was sponsored by Team CLIF Bar. He had just returned from competing in Greece when he was struck and killed.<\/p>\n

While out on bail, Schneider was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in July on U.S. Highway 160 in west Durango.<\/p>\n

When police arrived, Schneider tried to flee the scene on foot. A witness also reported that Schneider was attempting to remove the motorcycle from the road and hide it in a nearby parking lot.<\/p>\n

Schneider was booked into La Plata County Jail and charged with multiple counts, including obstructing a peace officer and leaving the scene of an accident.<\/p>\n

Sonntag\u2019s family noted that Schneider had never reached out to apologize.<\/p>\n

Defense attorney Joel Fry said he had advised Schneider not to contact the family, but that his client was distraught by his actions and was remorseful.<\/p>\n

Schneider chose to speak, saying that he was sorry for the pain that he had caused.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that nothing I do or say now can change the past to bring Ben back,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must know that I am sorry and that my family\u2019s lives have been destroyed by this accident as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After his statement, Herringer asked Schneider what he was sorry for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry that I sped down that road, that I could not control what I did that day,\u201d Schneider replied.<\/p>\n

During his judgment, Herringer said there was a discrepancy between what Schneider had said and what he had done.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour words today would carry more if they didn\u2019t accompany your actions afterward,\u201d Herringer said. \u201cI find it really difficult to believe that a person who\u2019s looking inside themselves trying to think about what they could have done differently would then do what you did behind that motorcycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the hearing, Sonntag\u2019s friends and members of the cycling community who had attended the hearing were visibly relieved.<\/p>\n

However, some said it still didn\u2019t feel like justice was served for Sonntag.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally don\u2019t think (the sentence) was long enough,\u201d said Adam Snyder, a close friend and former roommate of Sonntag\u2019s. \u201cHe was such a huge part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Roy
Roy Sturm reacts to the sentencing hearing of Cordell Schneider on Friday outside the La Plata County Courthouse in Durango. Schneider was convicted of vehicular homicide for the death of professional cyclist Benjamin Sonntag in March 2020 in western La Plata County. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rotem
Rotem Ishay reacts to the sentencing hearing of Cordell Schneider on Friday outside the La Plata County Courthouse in Durango. Schneider was convicted of vehicular homicide for the death of professional cyclist Benjamin Sonntag in March 2020 in western La Plata County. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cPerhaps (Schneider) doesn\u2019t have a criminal record, but he showed no remorse,\u201d said Rotem Ishay, a teammate of Sonntag\u2019s at FLC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do hope that even though it\u2019s short, it will allow him to realize the seriousness of what he did,\u201d Ishay said.<\/p>\n

Roy Sturm, father of Durango cyclist Sarah Sturm, traveled from Albuquerque to attend the sentencing.<\/p>\n

He said the case and others, like the death of national cycling champion Gwen Ingles in Colorado earlier this year, show that cyclists have to approach every ride with the mindset that they may be hit and killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to expect the stupidest thing from everyone on the road because of guys like this,\u201d Sturm said.<\/p>\n

As the crowd outside of the courthouse dissipated, Sonntag\u2019s family trickled out and paused for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still so painful for us and Sarah,\u201d Klaus said. \u201cWe still can\u2019t get over it.\u201d<\/p>\n

ahannon@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

travels from Germany for Friday\u2019s sentencing hearing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[133,168,28,131,254,2180],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-headlines","tag-homicide","tag-road-crash","tag-road-cycling"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85700,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43428\/revisions\/85700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43428"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}