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Police say texting driver hit cyclist in Medford

A Cherry Hill bicyclist was recovering from fractures to her face, a leg, and a vertebra yesterday after being struck in Medford by a driver who was texting about a drug deal, according to police.

A Cherry Hill bicyclist was recovering from fractures to her face, a leg, and a vertebra yesterday after being struck in Medford by a driver who was texting about a drug deal, according to police.

Lisa Granert, 42, was riding on Route 70, wearing a reflective vest and a helmet, shortly before 6:30 p.m. Monday when a car driven by Robert Sharrer, 28, of Browns Mills, hit her, police said.

Sharrer told police that he had been texting when his 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass wandered onto the shoulder, Lt. Jeffrey Wagner said.

The message related to a deal for a "controlled dangerous substance," Wagner said. Police had been seeking Sharrer's car before the accident, he said.

"We had reports he was driving . . . erratically," he said.

Police said they had found unauthorized prescription drugs in Sharrer's car, and he was charged with possession with intent to distribute, Wagner said. Charges in connection with the accident are expected, pending the outcome of blood tests, he said.

Granert, who told police that she could not remember the accident, was in stable condition yesterday at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

Texting while driving and using a handheld phone while driving are illegal in New Jersey.