Enraged cyclist used his “bike as a weapon” to batter a London taxi, leaving driver and passengers s
A taxi driver was left shell-shocked after a cyclist flew into a violent rage and used his bike as a weapon to repeatedly batter his cab.
Frank Morris had picked up passengers in Vauxhall and was in Montague Street, about to turn right into George Street, when the cyclist passed him in the street before screeching to a halt.
The raging rider suddenly started bashing the bike into the new TXe before lifting it up and smashing it onto the bonnet while the stunned driver and his passengers watched in horror at 10am on Thursday 4 July. He then tried to get at the cabbie by grabbing the partially opened window, trying to yank out the glass. But the cyclist stopped as suddenly as he had begun when the cabbie pulled out his camera phone and began snapping away. The 56-year-old, of Welwyn Garden City, said: “He lifted the bike in the air and smashed it on to the bonnet three times. It was a violent assault; it was pretty shocking. He was using the bike as a weapon. “The passenger told me he had been in London 20 years and had never seen anything like it. The cyclist was using the pedal to cause maximum damage to the cab. He then tried to wrench the window out to get at me, but I got my phone to take pictures of him, and he stopped suddenly, and went, “hello mate, is there a problem?” The cab driver of 32 years was forced to return the cab to the garage where he had rented it several months earlier and has been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket by the attack. Mechanics said the cyclist had caused more than £800 worth of damage. Frank reported the incident to the police and officers managed to collect fingerprints from the windscreen but say they don’t hold out much hope of catching the assailant. Officers said that there has been significant growth in the number of incidents of cyclists attacking cars with the pedals on their bikes. Frank said: “I’ve only just got over it now - it took a couple of days. I was nowhere near him. My passengers even phoned my governor to say that I had been driving calmly and have agreed to act as witnesses if he’s caught. I just feel angry because I didn’t do anything, and he has got away with it. I’ve never had anything like it in 32 years of driving a cab. I’m a careful driver and sometimes with drivers and cyclists you might have an exchange of words but nothing that has turned violent.” The rider was about 25 years old, with fair hair and wore a white top with a rucksack.
Police are investigating.
