A Georgia senior apparently became impatient with a group of bicyclists riding double wide on a rural road and allegedly sideswiped the peloton before speeding off in what police are calling a hit and run.
One of the cyclists was injured, reportedly suffering a fracture to his spine.
The incident was caught on camera and is showing up on social media.
Jerry Wayne Ross, 72, flashed what could either be a half smile or a grimace in his booking photo as he faces charges for the alleged hit and run using his Honda Pilot on April 23 in Cherokee County, north of suburban Atlanta, Fox 5 reported.
The North Georgia Cycling Association was on its weekly, 32-mile-long Thursday night ride when the suspected road rage incident occurred.
The footage shows the car blasting its horn nonstop as Ross allegedly comes up behind them — which cyclists told police went on for two minutes — before the vehicle passes, swerving into the group as one of the cyclists goes down.
“Okay, I got it on video,” another cyclist, apparently with a road camera or cell phone, says as the rider on the pavement utters expletives in pain.
The rider was Richard Collins, the leader of the group. He had just turned his head to see a rider behind him who had been sideswiped by the vehicle’s mirror, as its horn blasted away.
“Just excessive. Didn’t let off the horn,” Collins told Fox 5.
“I turned to my left to see it, at that moment, that vehicle was on my left leg,” explained Collins, who has been a cyclist for 15 years.
The video shows the vehicle speed away as Collins is left lying in the road, uttering a profanity.
Collins said he suffered “road rash” and was treated by paramedics who were called to the scene.
However, an orthopedist who examined Collins discovered he had suffered a fracture to his lower spine, Collins told the news outlet.
The Fox affiliate reported that Ross was “found hiding out at a neighbor’s house” nearby after officials from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spotted damage to his SUV consistent with the collision.
“Ross told authorities he had encountered the group of cyclists but denied responsibility, blaming the bikers for the collision, saying the riders had been in the middle of the road,” Fox reported.
Ross has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, aggressive driving, hit and run, and failing to maintain distance, according to jail records viewed by the New York Post.
The tabloid reported Ross remains in the Cherokee County Jail with a $25,000 bond.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more