SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, August 28, a cyclist riding with San Francisco Critical Mass attacked a Zipcar with a U-Lock.
The incident occurred around 8:16 p.m. when cyclists involved in San Francisco Critical Mass was riding bikes to promote awareness of bicyclists and the safety of cyclists riding with cars. This event takes place on Fridays at the end of every month. This mass is not an organization, so there is no one person that is solely responsible for the group.
This incident was recorded by a fellow cyclist and has generated discussion on YouTube. Cyclists are seen crossing multiple lanes of traffic on Marina Boulevard when a Zipcar starts to edge a bit forward. One cyclist, who is the suspect in this incident, stops to block the Zipcar; then after a few minutes several other cyclists began to block the car.
The car continues to inch forward and the cyclists begin to yell at the car, with the cyclists blocking the Zipcar and several other cars causing a disruption in traffic.
After a couple of minutes, the Zipcar places the vehicle in reverse and tries to go around the group of cyclists that continue to block its path. The cyclists follow the car and proceed to block the car, when it attempts to make its way around the group.
The conflict escalates when the suspect takes out his U-Lock and begins hitting the car with the lock. The driver in the Zipcar, who was reported as being female, manages to escape the group of cyclist and drive off.
San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell has commented on the incident stating that he does not approve of the actions conducted by the cyclists. He goes on to say that “The actions by the cyclists this past Friday evening participating in Critical Mass are disturbing and should never be tolerated in the city.” He statement also states how he will be working with the San Francisco Police Department in order to develop actions that will prevent this kind of incident from occurring in the future.
The San Francisco Police Department are investigating the incident. The Zipcar driver has not yet filed a police report, but they have hit a solid wall at this point.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department at (415) 575-4444.
