The LAist: Cyclist Susanna Schick Recovering After Alleged Road Rage Hit-and-Run, Family Probes Police Presence
Updated information on Susanna Schick, the cyclist who became the victim of an alleged road rage attack in Downtown Los Angeles Friday night, brings both good and bad news to the case.
Let’s start with the positive. BikingInLA reports Schick’s condition is improving, noting that the victim’s friend, Jennifer Beatty, “says that she’s awake and talking, and was allowed to eat on Sunday for the first time since she was admitted to the ICU.” Family members are glued to Pinkyracer’s — as Schick is known in the cycling community — bedside and have many questions, one of them being: “Where are the police?”
The biking blog writes: “As of Sunday night, no one from the department has apparently made any attempt to speak to speak to Schick. And her family has no information to indicate that the police even responded to the wreck that left her lying face down and unconscious on one of the Downtown’s busiest streets for as long as 10 to 15 minutes.”
Schick “has no memory of police officers at the scene of her collision, and no information about a police report being filed,” according to the blog. Of course, it is possible police did respond to the scene, and Schick, who suffered a minor concussion, simply cannot recall the interaction. The crash also left her with a broken collarbone, six broken ribs, a shattered pelvis and facial lacerations.
Though Schick’s memory grows hazy before and after the accident, she does remember the events leading up to her being thrown from her bike just past 4th Street. She was cycling down Spring Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets around 11:30pm when a Lexus — driven by “a well-dressed, olive-complected man around 6′ tall” — swerved into her bike plane. At a red light, the female passenger and Schick exchanged words. The details following the dispute are sparse.
One important piece of evidence, Schick’s bicycle, is currently at her home with a bent rear wheel. Beatty tweeted Schick “half mentioned something about someone dropping it off at her place,” but that person’s identity is currently unknown.
The ChipIn fund created by Schick’s friends to help pay for her medical expenses has grown to almost $2,000 since Sunday.
Witnesses should call police at 1-877-284-7328.
