WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. – Police are looking for a cyclist suspected of attacking and spitting on a driver. Wheat Ridge police say the cyclist was mad because the driver had allegedly blocked the bike lane with her car.
Police said the attack happened early Sunday afternoon near W. 32nd Avenue just east of Wadsworth Blvd. as the family was making their way home following a Mother’s Day celebration.
"There was a situation with mom (the passenger) where the daughter (the driver) thought she needed to pull over," said Sara Spaulding, spokeswoman with the Wheat Ridge Police Department.
According to a police report, the victim pulled over in the bike lane, upsetting the cyclist to the point of aggression.
"Yelled at them, used profanity and then rode on," Spaulding said.
But, the cyclist apparently wasn't finished.
"He continued on 32nd Avenue to Sheridan where the driver had stopped again," Spaulding said. "He ran his bike into the car a couple times, managed to break part of the bumper. And then reached in and grabbed the daughter, and then spit on both of them."
Denver7 contacted the victim who said the cyclist also reeked of alcohol.
"I'm not a drinker, but I work in a music venue and we serve alcohol," said the victim, who did not want to be identified. "This was the smell of hard alcohol."
The victim told Denver7 she pulled over because her mother, who suffers from dementia, wasn’t feeling well. Moments later, a male cyclist stopped at the back of the car and began shouting profanities.
"He was enraged," the victim said.
Police said the man also struck the top of the vehicle’s door frame which caused a small dent. The victim says he then spit on her and her mom before leaving eastbound on W. 32nd Avenue.
Investigators described the cyclist as a white man, measuring 5-feet-9-inches tall with a thin average build and about 35 years of age.
They said he was wearing a white shirt with teal plaid stripes, dark-colored shorts, black rimmed glasses with clear lenses, a white bike helmet that came to a point in front. He also had a flashing light on the back of it.
"I understand being upset when someone uses bike lane inappropriately, but be respectful and courteous," Spaulding said.
The suspect is wanted on charges of assault, intimidation and menacing.
Anyone with information about this attack who can identify the suspect is asked to call the Wheat Ridge Police Department at 303-237-2220.
