Audio By Carbonatix
At 3:30 p.m. yesterday, 36-year-old Terry Varghese was riding his bicycle when he turned onto the Dallas North Tollway service road. That turned out to be a bad idea.
Shortly after he made the turn, a car pulled alongside Varghese and its driver began shouting obscenities. “Are you crazy?” the driver yelled, according to the Morning News. “What the [expletive] is your problem? Are you stupid?”
The driver veered several times in Varghese’s path before finally falling back, accelerating and running into the back of the bike, sending it crashing into a grassy median and pinning Varghese’s leg underneath. The driver then sped off, running over Varghese’s right foot in the process.
Three employees of a nearby office building saw the whole thing while taking a smoke break outside but were unable to get a good look at the car. Varghese was scraped up but otherwise okay and refused to be taken to the hospital.
When news happens, Dallas Observer is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If the Dallas Observer matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
But hey: There’s a law for this sort of thing! The driver was in apparent violation of the city’s new be-nice-to-bikers ordinance, which levies a maximum $500 fine for motorists who injure bikers by, say, veering into their lane or passing them improperly.
In this case, though, the offense is a bit more serious. Police are treating it as an aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, a felony.
