A reader says he was attacked while bicycling in southwest Portland Thursday (August 1st) and he wants to know if anyone saw it happen. This assault took place just two weeks after another man was shoved off his bike while riding on the Springwater Corridor path.
The man, who wants to remain anonymous, has lived in Portland for about a year. He told me he was biking northbound on the path adjacent to SW Harbor Drive just north of Harrison at around 8:05 pm when it happened.
Here’s more from the victim:
“On my commute home today, I was headed north on the bike path adjacent to the SW Harbor Viaduct. I had just passed under the I-5 bridge/ramp area when I saw a pedestrian walking towards me on the right-hand side of the bike path.
He locked eyes with me, which was my first indication that something was up. When I was about 20-30 feet away, he stepped about six inches toward me and knocked me from my bike, leaning hard into the impact. I couldn’t zag left to dodge him because there was oncoming bike traffic.
He intended to knock me down…that was unambiguous. As I was lying there, he shouted something aggressive and profane that I didn’t quite hear. It was something along the lines of ‘Watch the fuck out!’ Then he chuckled.
I called 911 while following the guy at a safe distance. He got into a car and I relayed the plate to the operator. The operator told me to stop following him and wait for police, which I did.
The 911 dispatcher sent paramedics and a police officer. I have a surprising amount of road rash for such a slow impact — I was maybe going 15 mph at the time — but nothing is broken. The paramedics treated me at the scene.
The cop was nice and clearly took this seriously. He asked about witnesses. I had stopped several passersby, but none of them saw what happened.
I think someone probably saw the impact, and if they described what they saw to the police, it might help.
The investigating officer called me about 20 minutes after he took my report to say that the plate I read to the operator was assigned to an Acura, not the white Pontiac Vibe my assailant drove off in—so the chances of finding this guy might be slim.
Given recent events, I should probably say that the guy didn’t try to take my bike. I was on my ‘good’ road bike, a Cervelo R3, and unfortunately my bike took it on the chin. I’ll be taking it to a shop tomorrow for an estimate. I guess I’m glad I have a bike to bring in.”
Since sharing this account with me, the police have linked a description of the assailant with a car and the driver’s license it’s associated with. However, the victim says an attorney has informed him that without any witnesses to corroborate the incident, the case won’t go anywhere.
If you saw this happen and/or have any information to share about it, please get in touch with me and I’ll connect you to the victim.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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