"Hit-and-run" cyclist airlifted to hospital turns out to be drunk

A cyclist found unconscious by the side of the road in the US West Coast state of Oregon was not the victim of a hit-and-run accident, as had originally been feared, but was instead drunk, according to KATU News.

Timothy Crawford, aged 43, was discovered by a passing motorist near Estacada just after 9pm on Wednesday evening, who alerted the emergency services. An Oregon police dispatcher said that the cyclist’s injuries were consistent with his having been struck by a vehicle.

But police attending the scene, who closed Highway 224 for around two hours while they carried out their investigations, found no evidence that he had been hit by a car and discovered that his bicycle was undamaged.

Crawford was evacuated by a helicopter operated by air ambulance service LifeFlight to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, where blood tests confirmed that he was in fact highly intoxicated.

Police have so far been unable to interview him to discover what led up to his fall from his bike, although he has reportedly been cited for bicycling under the influence of intoxicants, and will presumably face a hefty bill for his helicopter trip to hospital.