San Francisco driver deliberately mows down four cyclists, then flees scene
Good grief. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Three neighborhoods invaded by one car Wednesday night with a driver bent on mowing people down. Four bicyclists left sprawled on the pavement. Six minutes from start to finish, from first victim to last.
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Investigators said the driver had carried out the assaults in a blue Nissan Rogue crossover sport utility vehicle. They said it was registered in Berkeley and was not believed to be stolen, but by late Thursday, there were still no arrests.
The victims, hit at four locations as their attacker wove wildly through traffic, sometimes down the wrong side of the road, were described as men ranging in age from their 20s to their 40s.
One victim was treated at the scene and released. The three at San Francisco General – one in critical condition, one in serious and one in fair – are expected to survive, said hospital spokeswoman Rachael Kagan.
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The rampage began at 9:43 p.m. in the Mission District, on a quiet stretch of Harrison Street near 23rd Street where houses overlook strips of well-tended flowers and a bike path.
“I heard this big bang and ran outside, and there was a man on the street moaning and curled up in pain and his bicycle on the ground,” said Ramon Fernandez, 66. “There were many police who came in about a minute, and then all of us were standing around wondering how such a thing could happen here.”
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Two minutes after the first hit-and-run, the driver mowed down his second bicyclist about a half-block south on Harrison, at a corner with a gourmet coffee shop and other neighborhood stores.
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A couple of minutes later and about 1 mile east, the third victim was struck at 23rd and Pennsylvania streets – a windswept, industrial block practically beneath Interstate 280 that is dominated by stretches of dirt and a Muni bus yard.
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The driver then sped several blocks north to the heart of Potrero Hill where, at the corner of 17th and Missouri, he hit his fourth rider at 9:49 p.m., police said. Immediately after the impact, the driver smashed his Rogue into a light pole and a parked Jeep Cherokee at the corner – and then he fled.
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Police Lt. Lyn Tomioka said all the victims “do appear to be targeted. We don’t know if they were known victims, or if it’s because they were on bicycles or what the issue was.”
Update:A suspect has been arrested.
EBR
June 4th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
It seems an arrest has been made.
http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/sf-bike-rampage-arrest/
June 8th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
If you ride properly on the street you can avoid most hazards which present themselves on the road. This includes dooring, right hook and left cross.
Drivers like the one in the article, drunks, and people who want to jerks are wild cards. There is hardly any way to ride correctly to avoid that kind of behavior becasue it is anarchy. One of Sunnyvale’s finest got hit by a drunk driver while in his patrol car.
Learn the safe ways to ride. Show others and pray the wildcards don’t come near you.