Police are investigating this unsettling incident reported by one of our readers.
“I was riding my bike home from work at 5:45 PM this past Wednesday, June 13th, when a car approached me from behind at a high rate of speed and someone leaned out of the passenger window and pushed me into the back of a parked car. I was pushed with enough force that I thought I had been hit by the car and a witness later told me what had happened. I broke my scapula and separated my shoulder bad enough to require surgery.
The car did not stop and no one attempted to rob me, so it appears this was done for fun. This happened on the 4600 block of Larchwood. Please get the word out there for cyclists to watch their backs.”
Police said that the vehicle involved in this incident is an older brown Buick LeSabre. The car fled west on Larchwood after the attack. Description of people in the car was not available.
June 20th, 2012 at 11:18 am
So now I can’t even bike home?!
June 20th, 2012 at 11:22 am
THIS IS MY BIGGEST FEAR. FUCK.
June 20th, 2012 at 11:44 am
I once had someone grab my arm while I was riding
from a taxi. There are many assholes in the world, but most people wouldn’t do anything like that.
June 20th, 2012 at 11:45 am
No way. I would f’ing kill the mutha f’er who did that. What a POS.
June 20th, 2012 at 11:47 am
There’s no reason for panic, folks. A response like, “now I can’t even bike home?!” is “letting them win”, so it’s said. You just keep your eyes and ears open. It’s all you can and should do. At least there is this centralized source to help make you smarter about our neighborhood.
June 20th, 2012 at 11:54 am
I had a similar encounter a few years back in Fishtown, and I’m sure if you took a poll, there are countless stories like this throughout the city. I was hit in the head by a passenger in an SUV, and while I was pretty stunned (a fist from a fast moving car feels like a baseball bat), I did manage to stay on my bike and didn’t sustain any real injuries. My sympathies to the person in this article and I hope you heal quickly.
I am telling this story, because the first comment is exactly what we need to avoid – we need to keep biking home and not let idiotic behavior force us into changing our behavior. There are kids driving around that do stupid stuff. Cyclists are vulnerable and get harassed. These are basically facts of life in our lovely city that just aren’t going to change for a while (or ever?). So keep keep biking home; bike everywhere. More bikes mean fewer cars and hopefully these kids just find better things to do with their time.
June 20th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
I will be happy as all hell if the police actually ever catch the jerks. But I am not holding my breath. This all so disconcerting after reading the story from last week about Cheshire Augusta’s hit and run bike crash. As well as the on going problem we’re having with these a–hole dirt bike and ATV riders out there that the police are ineffective in stopping. If I were to give in to my emotions I would be arming myself and getting prepared to go all Mad Max/Braveheart on the bastards. But I am a civilized adult and don’t want to be living in the wild west. The police have pretty much admitted they can’t solve any of these issues. What the hell are we supposed to do?
I swear if something like this happened to my wife or I, I would seriously need to be restrained from going absolutely medieval on the perpetrators. The cops and the mayor need to be on this type of shit.
June 20th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
AH-wake up. You cannot keep your eyes open for an assault which is unprovoked and which you do not see coming. This assault was serious. The biker could have suffered severe head trauma if he had landed differently. This behavior – hurting people for kicks – is fucked up and sociopathic. We need to stop acting like it is just the risk of living in the city to expect (and tolerate?) such atrocities.
June 20th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Agreed HS.
June 20th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Several years ago, as I was waiting for the bus home from work, a car pulled up next to me and a bunch of kids threw glass bottles at me (and a few unsavory epithets). It’s not healthy behavior, but it happens. It doesn’t mean our neighborhood has suddenly taken a turn for the worse.
To be fair, when I was thrown from my bike on Belmont where it turns into 44th, the car that hit me didn’t seem to care, but all the bystanders did.
June 20th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Look, my point was that you can’t just stop riding your bikes because there are a few horrible people out there. Just as Alon said, it’s everywhere in the city. Rather, your only option is to keep your eyes open: both those riding and those who may bear witness and help catch those perpetrating these violences.
What do you propose, HS? An eye for an eye, like brendangrad desires?
June 20th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I don’t advocate an eye for an eye. My base emotions may desire it but I don’t want that obviously. The same way one may desire to stuff their face with 2 large pizzas but would not advocate such a diet.
June 20th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Sorry, brendangrad, but it was not obvious. I certainly hoped your desire to harm others is much less than that to eat 2 large pizzas, but it wasn’t clear from your message. Nor is it clear from HS’s message, as he contemplates whether to “tolerate” it or not.
The fear that these kids can cause is possibly as dangerous as the actual harm. And the incitement to retribution is definitely the most dangerous.
June 20th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Sorry it wasn’t clear AH enough. I thought this little caveat was enough to point out the difference between advocacy and gut desires.
“If I were to give in to my emotions I would be arming myself and getting prepared to go all Mad Max/Braveheart on the bastards. But I am a civilized adult and don’t want to be living in the wild west. “
June 20th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Yes, but you promptly followed that with this:
“I swear if something like this happened to my wife or I, I would seriously need to be restrained from going absolutely medieval on the perpetrators.”
Hey, I’m not after you. I’m just concerned that fear will prevent bikers from continuing to bike, and afraid of people who may get violent after something like this… and your post seemed to be in line with that kind of mentality. No hard feelings. It isn’t about you.
June 20th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
I happen to be female, but thanks for the gross assumption that I am make based on my post. I have lived in the city my entire life, and this neighborhood for many years. I am disgusted, frustrated, furious and sad, at the baseless acts of violence which have become seemingly commonplace. I am not advocating violence. But I do not have to accept or “tolerate” (as you quoted, interpreting that I meant vigilante justice with a baseball bat or such) blatant disregard and intent to maliciously harm another person for fun. This is the reason people leave a city like Philly which has many wonderful qualities which one can argue may or may not be able to cancel out the violence.
June 20th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
AH, How are people supposed to ‘keep an eye out’ for this when riding?? Stop your bike every time a car approaches? If some ass in a car wants to zoom up to you and shove you, they are going to do it.
June 20th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
AH, I was again demonstrating what my emotions would be in that situation and how I would “need to be restrained” because in the heat of the moment, my emotions would get the better of me. Maybe in that same situation you would just accept it and not react, in which case you are a better person than I. I was not calling for us to form a posse and go out and crack skulls and behave with the same mindless impunity that the jerks who push people off their bikes do. Although I would stand by one’s right to defend themself. And while chasing someone down after the fact and punching them may not qualify as self defense, I don’t think one would risk being convicted for doing that given the blatant disregard of the attacker who could have killed the cyclist.
Second, it just seems that your “solution” (since you pumped HS for coming up with a solution) is to do nothing. To just accept that criminals will act with impunity and that the police will most likely not catch them.
That is the most dangerous mentality to me. I don’t think there is a risk of people stopping their bike riding because of this one awful story. I also don’t think there is a real risk of law abiding citizens like you and me from forming a vigilante posse and taking the law into their own hands and unleashing a wave disproportionate violence where we hunt the people down and get hollywood style vengeance.
You seem to be making an FDR point that we only have to fear fear itself. With all due respect to one of my favorite presidents, I disagree. The person in this story who was pushed off their bike and who sustained painful and costly injuries probably did not consider this as an event they should rationally fear. They probably did not live in abject fear of this happening. Regardless, it happened.
I think the police and the mayor have to bring about a better solution here. And it’s our job as a society to not tolerate this kind of criminal impunity. In the time that I’ve been following the West Philly Local I have read a lot comments about crime stories where people want the police to go easy on people because they have this misplaced notion that our criminal justice system is clogged with people who shouldn’t be there. I hear their concerns and I certainly believe our system has it’s racial and economic injustices. And yes, I believe that there are people in jail who should not be there. But a person who randomly decides on a lark to push someone off their bike in traffic is risking a person’s life. That is clearly someone who should be locked up. That is clearly someone we should not tolerate. And if we do nothing else we should stand united against that criminal mentality.
June 20th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Brendangrad- thank you for your last post. You said all the things I would have liked to articulate but am too angry at the moment to do so. The cyclist in the article who was pushed off his bike happens to be my husband. (and while I, on the whole, certainly do not advocate violence as a response to violence, had I been there when this happened, I would certainly have wanted to hurt the bastards who did this.) I agree 100% that people have a tendency to downplay violent acts. This was a malicious unprovoked act that could have had devastating consequences. I am an ICU nurse who knows all too well what can happen to trauma patients. Can you imagine what went through my head when I received a call at work from an ER doctor telling me that my husband had been pushed off his bike? I am thankful every day that he didn’t have a brain injury or internal organ damage. This was a serious serious crime that happened. It could have happened to anyone. It happened to my husband, one of the safest cyclists I have ever met. It has affected his (our) lives physically, financially, and (not least of all) emotionally. This is not okay, what happened. It should not be dismissed, or ignored, or minimized. Criminals must be held accountable for their behavior, particularly when their motives are so baseless. If nothing is done to stop things like this, they will continue to happen. The next person might not be so *lucky*.
June 20th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
ugh! this sucks so bad. i hope the biker is okay, or will be soon.
and like didi, botttles were thrown at me. it was about six years ago, when i was pregnant with our daughter, as i walked from the el at 46th toward walnut.
while i was definitely FREAKED at the time, i quickly realized that sort of idiocy wasn’t the norm, and just kept my eyes open to the possibility, without remaining in constant fear.
June 20th, 2012 at 5:21 pm
HS, I am so sorry for you and your husband. I had no idea at the time that you knew him. Very, very sad. After reading this story I called up my wife and told her about it. We were both pretty angry and sad at the story. We live close by to where the attack happened and we both ride bikes. So from my wife and I, I just want to say that we hope you and your husband get through this and back on your feet as soon as possible and that crappy random acts of violence don’t visit you two again. Take care!
June 20th, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Hi,
I am an italian student who will move in Philadelphia for 9 months. I was really enthusiast about this opportunity I had but honestly i am really concerned at the moment. I read about both good and bad things, but there is something that really gives me the creeps. Are people really this freak? I’m from Palermo, it’s neither a small or safe city, years ago i’v been robbed at knifepoint, but daytime bottle-throwing? How many times do these things happen? once, twice in a month? I’d be very grateful to anybody who helps me making up my mind.
Thank you
June 20th, 2012 at 7:02 pm
The same thing happened to me a few years ago while riding my bike down South Street. Fortunately, I only suffered some scrapes and bruises. For a long time after that, I was scared to ride on the street and rode on sidewalks. The pure evil in some people is just amazing.
I hope you make a full physical and mental recovery from that terrible assault.
-RJ
June 20th, 2012 at 7:07 pm
I wish you all the best in your recovery. This is something that is very sad to see. I always feel the need to be on guard whenever i walk the streets around here, I never even thought that I would need to do that if I got a bike. I do hope they catch the thugs that did this to you.
June 20th, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Thank you to everyone that wished my husband well. We appreciate your kindness and concern. He had surgery yesterday because his shoulder dislocation was so severe that the joint had to be surgically repaired. Soon he’ll start rehab. In the meantime, he won’t be able to take care of our child, which makes us both sad. I’m certain none of these facts would concern the person who caused all of this. I am sorry for those of you who have dealt with similar issues. To the woman who had bottles thrown at her while pregnant… Your storyslrs me especially sad; what a horrible thing to have happened. The lack of conscience shown by someone who would do such a thing is scary.
To the Italian student… I would normally tell you that random acts of violence are not a reason to pass on an opportunity such as the one you have, but this incident has hit too close to home. I am probably not the best person to give you an opinion. Perhaps others will have more perspective.
June 20th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
I tell my story here, certainly not as extreme as having to need surgery & rehab, if only to emphasize that although it was scary & and frankly, pretty f’d up to do to a pregnant woman, I also knew it was the work of one individual and definitely not the norm.
we have lived happily and peacefully in west (technically, southwest) philly for a little I’ve 6 years … fortunately we have not been personally touched by crime, but when neighbors are hurt or scared, in west philly, everyone rallies for support – and that is a comfort. we have experienced nothing but kindness and a very strong community.
June 20th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
BS: Check the crime rates in the city to get an idea, you need to decide for yourself how comfortable you are. These disturbing things happen from time to time and are unfortunate to people like HS and her husband. However, in reality I’ve lived here for over 20 years and have never been a victim of a crime, and as a bicyclist have never heard of such a thing as this happening. I think it’s one of the reasons it is getting this reaction on the board, it’s shocking to us.
June 21st, 2012 at 1:36 am
I mean, I’m still going to bike. When I first read about this, I just got so angry because I love biking and I LOVE living in West Philly. I just hate that there’s people in our community that keep trying to hurt our innocent neighbors.
June 21st, 2012 at 9:52 am
Tonight is the monthly meeting with the 18th district police at the Calvary Church. If you are available to go, this would be a good place to voice your concerns about the safety of bicyclists in the area.
June 22nd, 2012 at 6:08 pm
What really gets me is how negative,hurtful,and condescending people on this site are to their neighbors. Where is the compassion? People can have their own opinions whether or not one agrees, we don’t have to put others down. Instead of arguing behind the safety of ur computer, get out in the community and try to make a difference! Volunteer!! Something!! instead of just breeding more negativity !!
June 25th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Was just riding west over the South Street bridge, when a car zoomed up behind me, and someone screamed – last minute like, to try to startle me. Was an older (buick like) k-car, not sure of the make, but definitely from the 80’s. Wasn’t brown, more of a crappy primer blue… Lic plate was either HH7-3787 or HM7-3787, hard to tell because of the angle.
June 25th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
Adam. Good work catching the license plate. You could file a police report if you haven’t already. I think you got enough of the license plate number that the police could find the car. And if they figure out it was the same person who also knocked over HS’s husband then all the better.
June 26th, 2012 at 8:21 am
Just wanted to let everyone know that, per the police, a number of cyclists other than my husband have also been pushed off of their bikes. One incident happened the same night as my husband. It’s my understanding that that person (not sure of injuries) got a partial plate. Hopefully all this info leads to the police finding them so no one else gets hurt.
June 26th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Can we perhaps get people who have been pushed to take it to the forums, so that we can aggregate these stories, and try to come up with a complete description? I’d like to file a police report, but considering that all they did was yell and speed off (and considering my past experience with reporting things to the police) I’m doubtful that it will go anywhere but the circular file.
June 26th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Hey everyone.
I’m a West Philly resident and a daily bike commuter, and I have to say that I feel I have to scratch and claw for every inch of bike-lane real estate that I can get. Besides the incidental interactions with cars, it’s disheartening and frightening to think of the dangers that arise from deliberate actions like the ones described above. Hope everyone has or will heal quickly.
Just one quick thought– many of the initial posts above cite “kids” as the culprit. While the youth of our city certainly have some growing up to do, it’s unfair to just blame them from the jump. I have more faith in them than I do in their elders, despite the bad decisions they sometimes make.
In any case– hope this is the last I hear of these attacks.
June 26th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Adam, Sorry for butting my nose in yet again.
I understand your hesitation to file a report but I want to urge you to go through with it. I know all you have is that someone yelled at you but you managed to catch a description of the car and most of the license plate as well as a time and a place where the event happened. How many k-cars are there in the city which would have such a similar license number? I think you should report what you got. You could say you are aware of other similar stories going around the neighborhood and while you were not hurt you felt you should pass on the information in case it could be useful. You never know. They could just do nothing. They could look into and discover that the car you saw does not match the description from other victims and witnesses. Or you could have the crucial information which gives them an actual suspect who they can investigate.
So, I know it’s a pain filing a report but please consider it. As someone who rides every day I will thank you in advance for your trouble.
Also, I think that it would not be a good idea for us to as a forum aggregate this information before taking it to the police. The act of us aggregating the information into a single description may skew the investigation. Witnesses may feel compelled to change their story to have it match the other witnesses stories.
I think it’s better to take the info you personally have, give it to the police and let them make a case if they can. And whoever else has been bullied should also report what they have. The more dots we give the police to connect the better chance we have of finding this person or group of people.
June 26th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
If you really, really don’t want to call the police, please at LEAST use the Silent Witness Form: https://secure.www.upenn.edu/publicsafety/forms/silent-witness-form/
June 28th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Guys – So I sent the lic plate info to ‘thefuzz’. I think that’s probably the best way to get some traction…
June 28th, 2012 at 11:54 am
And it’s not that it’s a pain to file a police report – it’s been my experience with something like this, that the dispatchers will basically tell you that you can file a report – but then it’s set to such a low priority, since there was no bodily harm/theft of property, that no one ever shows up to take the report.
June 28th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Adam, I just wanted to let you know that my husband was able to make a police report over the phone. His van was broken into two weeks ago and the steering column was destroyed. He called 911, and the dispatcher had a police officer call him back. The officer took the info over the phone.
Maybe an officer will take your report over the phone.