Hit-and-Run Berkeley Driver Caught on Camera Injuring Two Bicyclists

Footage of an egregious hit-and-run crash where a driver injured two bicyclists in Berkeley was posted online by one of the victims yesterday. The man who recorded the incident, identified on Youtube as “Bruno,” wrote in the video’s description that police have found the car and the owner, but that he is “waiting for the return of the police on the case.”

Calling the video “horrific,” East Bay Bicycle Coalition Program Director Dave Campbell told the Oakland Tribune that the incident highlights the need for a bike lane on Tunnel Road, especially since drivers often speed up on the approach to a nearby highway. Caltrans and the cities of Oakland and Berkeley are working on putting in a bike lane, according to the Tribune.

Still, as Campbell noted, “No amount of engineering is going to stop the kind of reckless driving like we saw in Concord.” So the question remains: Will Berkeley authorities prosecute this clear case of reckless endangerment, or let another all-too-common case slip through the cracks?

Update: As Christopher Kidd pointed out in the comments, the victims could also potentially file a civil suit against the driver under Berkeley’s new bicyclist anti-harassment ordinance.

  • Un-freaking-believable.  

    This will likely end up as yet another slap on the wrist for somebody that needs to lose their license for a good five years or more.  

  • Once the driver is identified, the two riders won’t even need to rely on the Berkeley authorities.  They can bring civil suit under the Bicyclist Anti-Harassment Ordinance.

  • Ggray97

    Amazing to me they actually caught the crook at all. Now the big question, will this crook fully pay what he deserves? IMO he shouldn’t be allowed to drive at all. Next time he just might kill.

  • gesher

    The video does not present a “clear case of reckless endangerment.” It certainly looks like it might be, but the driver might have been swerving to avoid hitting someone else. If that’s what happened, do you still think he should be punished?

  • jjsmack

    Did these cyclists also forget to flush the toilet an hour before, because if they did then they deserved to get hit, right?

    If the driver had to swerve to avoid hitting someone else, he shouldn’t have been following so close, and it’s his fault. And then of course when you hit somebody, you have the duty to stop. What’s your point here, that it’s ok to hit someone and then step on the gas? Give me a break.

  • Anonymous

    Minimum charge is felony hit and run X 2

  • Are you sure the police have “found the driver”?  The scuttlebutt I heard on a neighborhood mailing list was that the car in question was found in my neighborhood, had been stolen, taken for a joyride, and dumped.  So it’s possible the police have found the owner, not the driver.

  • There is no excuse for that kind of driving, at the minimum hit and run 2 counts he is guilty of. I hope they will tack on wreckless driving and endangerment charges.

  • mikesonn

    Was it reported stolen before or after the incident? Also interesting that Berkeley PD is conducting this as a “hush-hush” investigation and the SFPD and SF DA are leaking like a sieve.

    EDIT: Here is the updated post on SFGate about the ongoing investigation.
    http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2012/04/27/berkeley-bicyclist-hit-run-video/?tsp=1

  • what? this is a one lane road with a solid wall to the left. What could the driver have been swerving to avoid, the ghost of patrick swayze?

  • I saw that email, seems like a prank. But I could be wrong.

  • @7b3aa3e0a6406e8c396d616cc4893cb3:disqus yes, he fled the scene. This driver is a coward and a danger to everyone else.

  • Anonymous

    And they should do this. However, it is much more persuasive for the driver to clean up his act if he’s punished by a criminal court. I hope they find this guy and get him in criminal court.

  • @mikesonn:disqus it will be interesting to compare the theft report time with the time the accident occurred. It does seem awfully fishy.

  • mikesonn

    Doesn’t really matter since you can’t see the driver in the video. Take a look at the owners cell phone bill because I bet you this was a texting-while-driving. You will get the time of text and the GPS (or at least triangulation). I see SO MANY drivers with a phone to their ear or looking down texting. If the SFPD wanted to close the city’s budget gap, just put a bunch of officers in plain clothes and on a bike and you have a clear view of all the BS drivers are pulling while “driving”.

  • It gets richer. The perpetrator ditched the car in some random neighborhood in Oakland and claimed that the car was stolen.

    Oh what’s that you say, the car might actually be stolen and I’m rushing to judge without all the facts? Pot Kettle Black.

  • I really hope that the driver is found and arrested, what a low quality driver and conscience. 

  • Anonymous

    KTVU news is reporting that the driver has been arrested for hit-and-run and a variety of other charges

  • Anonymous

     Even if that was the case, wouldn’t you rather hit another car than potentially injure/kill two vulnerable road users?  The driver clearly wasn’t paying attention.  He should be punished big time.  The only way people will stop violating laws is to strictly enforce the laws we have–for ALL types and modes of transportation.

  • Anonymous

     Would the ordinance cover accidents, or would they have to prove the driver willfully hit them?

  • ubringliten

    Heroin possession and parole violation.  He’s going back to jail.

  • I think the face that the guy didn’t stop, and then later (apparently) made up a lie about his car being stolen speaks to the contrary.

  • You call that “reckless endangerment”?  I call that aggravated assault with intent to murder.  The car was at least three feet inside the parking lane when it hit the bikes.  

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