The Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday afternoon that County Attorney Rachel Mitchell had referred criminal charges Goodyear police submitted regarding a fatal pickup collision involving 19 bicyclists back to police.

“The deaths of the two cyclists and injuries suffered by others that morning is an unimaginable tragedy," Mitchell said in a statement. "The police need time to complete their investigation. It is critical before making any charging decision, and triggering legal time constraints, that a full investigation is completed and provided to prosecutors for review."

Mitchell's referring of the charges back to police would allow investigators more time to gather additional evidence and witness testimony for prosecutors to make charging decision.

Mitchell's announcement came one day after Goodyear officials held a news conference about the Saturday morning collision where they identified the deceased as 61-year-old Karen Malisa of Goodyear who was pronounced dead at the scene and 65-year-old David Kero, who was visiting from Michigan and died at the hospital. The collision left 17 others with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening.

Police arrested 26-year-old Pedro Quintana-Lujan who was traveling south while driving the truck on Cotton Lane Bridge at around 7:57 a.m. when he crashed into the group of cyclists. Court documents state Quintana-Lujan told police that his steering was locked when the vehicle began drifting to the right and into the cyclists.

Officers booked Quintana-Lujan into jail on two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment and two counts of causing serious injury or death by a moving violation. He was being held on a $250,000 bond until Mitchell referred the charges back to Goodyear police, causing him to be released from jail on Tuesday.

Catch up:Here's what we know on deadly Goodyear bicycle crash

Goodyear police Chief Santiago Rodriguez said Monday there was no indication that Quintana-Lujan intended to crash into the group of cyclists or whether speed or impairment were factors. He added that police obtained a sample of Quintana-Lujan's blood to be tested. It was unclear when the results of the blood test would be available.

Court documents state Quintana-Lujan told police that he was a contractor on his way to a job site from Chandler. He told investigators he had smoked marijuana with his wife the prior evening — roughly 11 hours before the collision.

Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at 602-444-2474 or perry.vandell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @PerryVandell.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: MCAO refers criminal charges back to police in fatal Goodyear collision