Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Bicycles and cars don’t always coexist well. In rare cases the disharmony is caught on videotape.
The driver of a pickup truck involved in an August 2011 crash with a bicyclist turned himself in late last week after learning there was a warrant for his arrest.
The cyclist, Evan Wilder, had a helmet-mounted video camera, which captured a pickup truck slowing down beside him moments before his bicycle tumbled to the pavement.
Wilder records his rides to work daily with a high-definition camera on his helmet, which captured the driver’s voice and tags.
The video was posted on YouTube by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, which labeled the incident “an assault.”
The driver of the Toyota Tacoma truck, John W. Diehl, is a retired Metropolitan Police Department officer, The Washington Times reports.
Court records show Diehl is due in D.C. Superior Court July 2.
A spokesman with the D.C. Attorney General confirms Diehl will be charged with leaving the scene after a collision causing personal injury and leaving the scene after a collision causing property damage.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says it is investigating to see if more serious charges are warranted.
The incident occurred Aug. 31 of last year in the westbound lanes of the 300 block of Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast D.C.
In the video, the driver of the truck curses as he warns the bicyclist to keep to the right.
The cyclist answers, “What’s that?”
The truck driver replies, “You heard me,” and appears to veer to the right. The bicycle crashes.
Shortly after the crash — after he received a letter from police that his truck had been involved in a hit-and-run crash — Diehl denied involvement.
According to the affidavit in support of an arrest warrant, Diehl told police, “I wasn’t there. I didn’t do it. I know nothing about it.”
At the time, the police officer said Diehl’s pickup had a small dent on the passenger side’s rear fender.
Watch the video from Wilder’s helmet cam here:
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