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A man driving in his 2015 Ford Explorer pulled over after a bicyclist threw something at the car, according to Menlo Park police, and was then struck in the head with a bicycle lock.
The 24-year-old man was driving in the 700 block of El Camino Real around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28. He pulled over to check for damage, finding a dent, while the suspect wordlessly flung the lock at the back of his head, leaving a laceration, police said.
Running with his bike down El Camino Real, the suspect was last seen turning left onto Alma Street.
The driver described the assailant as a thin male, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, with medium-toned skin and either in his late teens or early 20s. The suspect had a closely trimmed beard and mustache, “blondish” hair and wore khaki pants and a khaki shirt, the report said.
Another out of area person probably.
Description perfectly fits a cyclist that wears that outfit that I’ve seen riding down Menlo Ave. He rides very fast, with no helmet, hands and flies right through stop signs. I remember him so well because I almost hit him when he ran a stop sign and he never even glanced my way. Definitely had a “strange look” on his face.
another example of cars and bikes dont mix. Keep el camino free of bicyclists and this type of stuff won’t happen. the cylists “won” this time–but, that was like winning the lottery. ECR should not be a bike street.
I was driving by just then and think I saw this attack about to happen. I saw the bicyclist dropping his bike and walking forward toward the car that had just pulled over, with his bike lock in his hand. I wondered why someone would just drop his bike and leave it.
Even when the bike has a flat tire, running with a bike is a horrible way to flee the scene of a crime.
Sounds like straight up assault, I hope they find and fine the cyclist. Could have been auto user error or cyclist user error, either way, the driver could have suffered serious brain damage or death as a result of a blow to the head with a bike lock.
It sounds like the bike was no longer functional. It is not uncommon for a cyclist to throw their bike and their whole person at a passing truck.
Chuck & Lucile
Be good citizens and contact the Menlo Park PD with ur info.
Spandex does not just look stupid, it makes the wearer do stupid things
Time to buy a dash cam
Are you all sure the driver was totally innocent? I’m not excusing the dangerous bad behavior of the cyclist, but I know some drivers do some dangerous things, too. Some bad driving that affected the cyclist may have triggered the anger of the cyclist.
Today TWICE I was nearly hit downtown while I was walking in two different crosswalks on Santa Cruz Ave. This was in full daylight and after I first checked traffic before I walked into each crosswalk. The second time, two cars zoomed through.
“may have triggered the anger of the cyclist.”
Suggesting that anger justifies this behavior is irresponsible.
Being angry does not make anyone the judge and the jury.
Spanning the Spandex: your wildly clever generalization is unfortunately no appropropriate since the cyclist was wearing khakis. Nice try though.
I purchased a color 180 degree dashboard camera because of such incidents as these. It’s a marvelous tool and always tells the truth !
I was in an Uber car and the driver had one. I was so impressed I went out and bought one myself on Amazon
I second (third) all the recommendations for a dashcam. Mine has already saved me over $1000.
Obviously, the cyclist was wrong to damage the car and attack the driver, but I have a real hard time believing that the driver is totally blameless. The cyclist just ran up and assaulted the man without a single bit of provocation?
Finally, I need someone to translate this poorly written sentence: “Running with his bike down El Camino Real, the suspect was last seen turning left onto Alma Street.” We thus infer that the bike was no longer functional, but you cannot turn left onto Alma from El Camino in Menlo Park. And if the cyclist was on foot, he might have crossed El Camino at Alma in Palo Alto, but I doubt he would have dragged a non-functioning bike into the left turn lane, which tends to be pretty backed up by 4:30 anyway.
Maybe cyclists should stay off of ECR.
Another newspaper said that the “cyclist” was a homeless person who was walking on the sidewalk before the driver pulled over. He happened to be pushing a bicycle, but he was a pedestrian.
Lessons Learned –
I can’t translate the sentence, either.
But you can most definitely turn left onto Alma from El Camino Real if you are walking on the east side of El Camino along the frontage of the Stanford Park Hotel.
Clearly more bikes on ECR would help. People driving new trucks don’t care much about homeless people stealing bikes, but cyclists are more likely call the police.
More bikes – what makes you think a homeless person stole a bike?
Wouldn’t the bicycle lock have fingerprints on it? In the case of an assault and injury, surely it should be worthwhile to get fingerprints? Or is that too expensive and time consuming for the police to do?