Sheriff’s investigators are continuing to look for the driver of a Mercedes-Benz involved in a hit-and-run in Encinitas Friday that left a bicyclist with a severe head injury.

Authorities thought they had a break in the case Wednesday when someone tipped San Diego police to a damaged white Mercedes parked in Mira Mesa. A man and a woman were detained but released after investigators determined they and their car were not involved.

Despite the false lead, investigators are hopeful they’ll be able to locate the driver with help from the public. Sheriff’s Cpl. Brenda Sipley said she’s received nine leads, two of which are “very solid.”

Family members said 30-year-old Stephanie Berger McKenna was cycling home after dinner, headed south on North Coast Highway 101, when she was hit near Basil Street in Encinitas about 10 p.m.


Her husband was skateboarding behind her.

The two were in a designated “sharrow” lane, to be shared by cars and bicycles, sheriff’s officials said. They were about a block from home when the crash happened.

McKenna suffered a serious brain injury and has undergone a number of surgeries, family members said. A piece of her skull was removed in an effort to minimize swelling and she remains in a medically-induced coma.

The driver did not stop after the collision. The car was described as a white or silver 1992 to 2000 Mercedes-Benz C series sedan.


Sipley said the car’s grill came off in the crash, which helped investigators identify the make and model. The car likely suffered dents in the hood and a shattered windshield on the passenger side.

Surveillance cameras at a number of nearby businesses captured images of the car. One seems to show the vehicle pulling out from a parking spot on the west side of North Coast Highway north of the Regal Seagull, a bar and eatery near Jasper Street.

Community members have plastered businesses along the highway with fliers that contain information about the car and the crash, hoping witnesses will help steer deputies to the driver.

Someone called San Diego police about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday saying that a car possibly used in the hit-and-rune was parked at a Pizza Hut on Mira Mesa Boulevard. A man and woman were in the car. They were turned over to the Sheriff’s Department, questioned, then released.


McKenna, who works as a physical therapist, was described as smart, kind and active.

“She works daily in a hospital giving care to sick and injured people struggling to recover,” said Patricia McKenna, her mother-in-law. “Now she’s lying in a hospital bed on the receiving end.”