Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a driver who struck a cyclist early Wednesday morning and fled, leaving the injured biker bleeding, with a broken leg and shattered teeth, on the side of the road.
The accident happened overnight on West Worthsville Road in Greenwood, west of U.S. 31, near the entrance to Summerfield Place subdivision. The driver sped up while leaving the scene.
Police are looking for a dark-colored or black American-made, full-size pickup truck with a lift kit, blue lights where the yellow turn signals are usually placed and a loud exhaust. Anyone with information is asked to call the Greenwood Police Department anonymous tip line at 317-865-0300 or use the Police Connect portal on the city’s website at green wood.in.gov.
A passenger may have been in the vehicle, witnesses told Greenwood police.
Cyclist Jonathan Kim told police he was riding westbound shortly before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when a truck hit him from behind and kept driving, turning south on County Road 75W on the other side of the subdivision.
Witnesses saw or heard the crash and told police they also saw the truck turn onto the county road and they heard it accelerate as it left the scene, according to a Greenwood police report.
Police found Kim’s teeth lying in the roadway and suspected he had a broken leg, and medics took him to Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, according to the Greenwood Police Department report. He was in good condition on Wednesday afternoon.
He was riding an expensive specialized-brand carbon fiber bike with the lights on, and a fellow cyclist said Kim is an experienced cyclist who was following the rules of the road.
A police officer’s body camera captured Kim sitting on the side of the road with the mangled bike, and the front and rear lights of the bike were still operating, said Brandon Street, manager of Gray Goat Sports in Franklin. Kim, a triathlete, works at the Indianapolis Gray Goat store and is the manager of Anytime Fitness in Bargersville.
Accidents such as this make cyclists even more cautious when riding, but many will ride at night during the summer because the weather is cooler, fewer vehicles are on the road, and it is the only time their schedule permits, Street said.
He hopes that police catch the driver and make an example out of him in the criminal justice system.
“It’s disheartening for sure,” Street said of the accident. “What’s even more disheartening is that someone would actually hit another human being and leave them laying on the side of the road.”
Police collected a torn piece of tire tread likely left by the suspect’s vehicle, pieces of Kim’s broken bicycle and other evidence and debris left scattered, such as the rear bicycle tire found further down the road and possible pieces broken off of the suspect’s vehicle, the report said.
Officers documented the marks left on the roadway by the vehicle’s tires.
The investigation is ongoing.
