Driver Charged After Yelling At Cyclists, Pushing One To Ground
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Wilkinsburg man is facing charges after police say he assaulted two bicyclists in Lawrenceville.
Police say the incident happened Thursday just before 1:30 p.m. at 40th and Butler Streets.
Cell phone video shows the enraged motorist yelling obscenities to the two cyclists who were riding their bikes through busy city neighborhood.
It show Molly Orzechowski sitting on the ground after police say the man pushed her off her bike. She was riding with her boyfriend Chris Sprowls when it happened.
"I'm not really shocked to be honest. A lot of drivers have a real hard time dealing with cyclists in the world," said William Hittinger, a bicyclist. "I don't understand why."
Hittinger's bike is his only means of transportation. He says it's common to see drivers yelling at cyclists.
"'Get out of the way, get off the road, pick it up, slow it down, what are you doing, get a car, get a job, you're a hippie, go away,'" says Hittinger.
"On my way to Bloomfield I was by the hospital and some angry driver was behind me, honking his horn, wanting to pass me," says Jared Runnels, another cyclist.
That's exactly how things started for the couple involved in the encounter in Lawrenceville.
The driver of the blue Dodge Charger, now identified by police as 36-year-old Fehmi Abdullah, came up behind the pair were riding their bikes along the curb going outbound and started honking his horn and yelling as they were trying to get around parked cars.
Orzechowski suffered some minor cuts and bruises after she was pushed.
"I do feel frustrated, especially when it's tight like this and I don't like it," say Lissy Johnson, a driver.
But Johnson also says that's no excuse, and what the driver in Lawrenceville did was unacceptable.
"We do have to learn how to get along with one another on many levels in order to make Pittsburgh truly the most livable city," said Pittsburgh Police spokesperson Sonya Toler.
The bicyclists were able to snap pictures, which helped police track the driver.
Abdullah will face harassment charges.
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