Crews respond to the crash that killed 41-year-old bicyclist Jimilee "Jason" Thomas of Bend Friday afternoon on Highway 99. The crash investigation closed Highway 99 well into the evening.

A woman with a string of prior felony convictions faces new vehicular homicide and impaired driving charges on accusations she was under the influence of Dust-Off at the time she fatally struck a bicyclist with a Ford van in Medford Oct. 11.

Cassie Jane Cavagnaro, 36, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of first- and second-degree manslaughter, hit-and-run, driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the crash Oct. 11 on South Pacific Highway near Garfield Street that killed 41-year-old Jimilee “Jason” Thomas of Bend, according to a news release issued late Wednesday afternoon by Medford police.

Medford police say Thomas was “legally operating” his electric bicycle in the southbound bike lane on South Pacific Highway when Cavagnaro, driving a white full-size Ford van, left the roadway and struck him. 

The van did not stop, and police say they contacted Cavagnaro near the vehicle in a parking lot near the scene of the crash. Witnesses told police that the vehicle had been driving erratically leading up to the crash, the release said.

Police and other first-responders attempted life-saving measures on Thomas, but he died at the scene.

The multi-agency Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction team, or STAR, determined after a “lengthy and time-intensive investigation” that Cavagnaro “was believed to have been ingesting an inhalant” just before the accident, according to the release. It specifies the inhalant was Dust-Off. 

Cavagnaro was arrested Tuesday on a warrant for violating her parole on a previous first-degree burglary conviction, Jackson County Jail records show. Medford police arrested her on the new charges Wednesday.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, the Jackson County District Attorney’s office had not filed charges, court records show. Court records, however, do show that Cavagnaro had multiple 2022 burglary convictions stemming from incidents in 2021 and 2022.

Court records do not show a consistent address for Cavagnaro. Some cases list a general delivery address in Grants Pass, others list an address in Central Point. Jackson County Jail records Tuesday listed an address in the 1000 block of Crews Road in Medford.

As of shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, a GoFundMe page launched in support of Thomas’ wife, Nikki Thomas, had raised more than $5,200 in two days. 

The crowdfunding page states that Jason Thomas was a “well known and loved” chef in Bend, and the couple had been traveling in their RV while Nikki Thomas worked as a critical care travel nurse in the Rogue Valley.

Nikki Thomas provided a statement to the Rogue Valley Times earlier this week through her lawyer, Erik Hasselman with Springfield law firm Leahy Cox, LLP. Nikki Thomas also spoke with KTVZ-TV in Bend last weekend.

Nikki Thomas in her statement said her husband was “an amazing man” and “one of the nicest people you could ever meet.”

She said she is “overwhelmed and appreciative” for the outpouring of community support, but asked for privacy while she grieves.

“For now, I would ask you to respect my right and need to grieve until we have more answers,” she said.

She called losing her husband “completely devastating,” and she expressed trust in the investigation.

“For now, I am hopeful the Medford Police Department investigators can efficiently and completely piece the facts of this tragedy together,” Nikki Thomas said in the statement to the Times. “There should be accountability for the senseless devastation caused to Jason’s family and me.”

Find the GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/f/support-nikki-after-tragic-loss-of-husband.