London Police say they are asking the public for help in identifying a male suspect wanted in connection with the investigation into Thursday’s attack on the north end of the city involving a cyclist. .
The incident happened in the area Adelaide Street North and Kipps Lane Around 4:30 p.m. when they said a cyclist was approached by a man they didn’t know and assaulted, with minor injuries.
Police said the suspect was described as a medium to heavy male, 35 to 45 years old, wearing a black baseball cap and navy shirt.
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London resident Peter Riley was a participating cyclist.
Speaking to Global News a day after the incident, Riley said he was cycling north from work along Adelaide Street when he encountered a vehicle in the lane of a residential area just south of Kipps. Lane.
Riley said the car was waiting for a turn and was blocking his entrance to a bike path that started in the lane and continued north in the direction of Kipps. The road is frequently blocked by vehicles trying to turn away from the apartment complex, he said.
“I actually had to get off in the middle of Adelaide and walk around him to get past him,” Riley said.
“So I yelled at him, ‘You’re blocking the bike lanes!’ … Nothing too offensive, or certainly nothing obscene. He yelled back with predictable profanities and the like, something in effect to take a shortcut.”
The starting point of the bike lane along Adelaide Street, south of Kipps Lane.
Google map
Continuing down the bike path north, Riley said he was stopped at a red light at Kipps. There he said he observed the same driver turning the corner into Kipps, nearly hitting a pedestrian crossing Adelaide.
“I was still waiting for a red light, so he stopped at the curb, (and) got out. I decided. ‘Oh, I’d better take a picture of this one. This is not a good situation,” Riley said.
“He came up to me, shouted typical obscenities, and then he just hit me in the face. I fell off my bike, and he just got back in his bike and sped off.”
Shocked, Riley said he picked up his bike and glasses and was approached by a woman who witnessed the melee.
Riley suffered from swollen black eyes and broke her glasses during a rotation session. “Now those are lovely shades of purple and blue and all the other colors you would expect,” he says.
Luckily, he didn’t need to go to the hospital or go to an urgent care clinic.
Peter Riley.
Courtesy: @AFynClass via Twitter
A photo of Riley’s wound post on twitter of his wife Dawn received several responses from members of the community expressing support as well as outrage about what happened.
On Friday, police released a photo of a male suspect being sought in connection with the incident. Riley, who took the photo, provided Global News with a higher quality, unedited version of the image.
In 20 years of cycling, Riley said it was the first time he had experienced such a violent conflict with a motorcyclist.
“I’m not saying I’ve never been yelled at by motorists before, but never, and never was, this violent,” he said.
“I am not going to give up cycling. It’s very important to me and my mental health and certainly, given the price of gas, is (also) very helpful in that. But, I don’t want anyone to hear this and say, ‘Oh, no, cycling is too dangerous.’ No, it’s not. I mean, this is a weird exception in 20 years of cycling. “
Riley added that he has reached out to the city about the apartment road and said the city needs to continue to improve its bike infrastructure to make cycling safer.
“Only by getting more people on the road and making people feel safer will cycling continue to grow in the city,” he said.
“I think the city has done a great job in building new infrastructure, but there is still a lot of room to continue to grow.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police or Crime Stoppers.
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