Driver, cyclist killed in Fairfax crash

Just after 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon, 18-year-old Abdelouahid Chadli was bicycling with his girlfriend in Fairfax.  They were on a bike path near the intersection of Lee Highway and Forum Drive, possibly waiting for the light to change so that they could cross the street.  At that same time, a 2001 Dodge Durango driven by 31-year-old Gary Anthony Thorne crossed the median and veered across six lanes of Lee Highway before hopping the Forum Drive curb and fatally striking Chadli from behind.  The Durango continued for an additional 20 to 30 feet before crashing into a tree; the vehicle hit the tree with such force that it took rescue crew three hours to remove Thorne's body from the wreckage.  Thorne's stepfather said that he had no known medical conditions that would cause him to lose control of his vehicle; he also had not being having problems with his vehicle.  Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the crash.

Chadli would have graduated from Fairfax High School in June; he had been accepted to George Mason University and hoped to become a veterinarian.