Cyclist assaulted, injured by driver
By: Beth Spencer
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
The driver of a Ford F-150 harassed and punched a bicyclist in the eye on campus earlier this week in an apparent case of road rage.
Victim Zac Taylor and his friend, University of Memphis senior Matthew McCulley, were riding their bikes northbound on Patterson Street followed by the suspect, whom they described as a 6-foot-tall, 235 pound man.
McCulley, who is an English and philosophy double major, said the man tailgated them, illegally coming within inches of their bikes, and tried to run them off the road.
Taylor and McCulley pulled off Patterson Street eastbound onto Desoto Avenue, with the suspect behind, and stopped at the intersection near the Tiger Den, according to the campus police report.
Taylor said they were telling the suspect about the state law requiring vehicles to stay at least three feet behind bicyclists when the suspect climbed out of his truck and punched Taylor, who was still on his bike.
"I hit the ground and was freaking out because I seriously thought he punched my eye into my skull," he said. "He just clocked me in the eye, and I immediately crumpled to the ground."
Campus police do not have a suspect in custody for the assault, which happened on Monday at 6:50 p.m.
"I never even raised my voice," Taylor said. "He kept saying to 'Shut the (expletive deleted) up.' I was shocked when he got out of his truck. I figured he might roll down the window and have something smart to say and drive off."
After the attack, the suspect drove away and the police and ambulance arrived on the scene, Taylor said.
McCulley said the truck driver was angry with them for riding their bikes on the street.
"He was pretty much a Billy Badass inside the truck, and then he proved he was a Billy Badass outside of it," he said.
Taylor said he was taken to the emergency room of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, where he was given two CT scans.
"He fractured the orbital floor of my right eye," Taylor said. "It was completely swollen shut. He hit me so hard that it completely busted my lip, knocked my jaw and chipped my tooth."
Victim Zac Taylor and his friend, University of Memphis senior Matthew McCulley, were riding their bikes northbound on Patterson Street followed by the suspect, whom they described as a 6-foot-tall, 235 pound man.
McCulley, who is an English and philosophy double major, said the man tailgated them, illegally coming within inches of their bikes, and tried to run them off the road.
Taylor and McCulley pulled off Patterson Street eastbound onto Desoto Avenue, with the suspect behind, and stopped at the intersection near the Tiger Den, according to the campus police report.
Taylor said they were telling the suspect about the state law requiring vehicles to stay at least three feet behind bicyclists when the suspect climbed out of his truck and punched Taylor, who was still on his bike.
"I hit the ground and was freaking out because I seriously thought he punched my eye into my skull," he said. "He just clocked me in the eye, and I immediately crumpled to the ground."
Campus police do not have a suspect in custody for the assault, which happened on Monday at 6:50 p.m.
"I never even raised my voice," Taylor said. "He kept saying to 'Shut the (expletive deleted) up.' I was shocked when he got out of his truck. I figured he might roll down the window and have something smart to say and drive off."
After the attack, the suspect drove away and the police and ambulance arrived on the scene, Taylor said.
McCulley said the truck driver was angry with them for riding their bikes on the street.
"He was pretty much a Billy Badass inside the truck, and then he proved he was a Billy Badass outside of it," he said.
Taylor said he was taken to the emergency room of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, where he was given two CT scans.
"He fractured the orbital floor of my right eye," Taylor said. "It was completely swollen shut. He hit me so hard that it completely busted my lip, knocked my jaw and chipped my tooth."