San Francisco driver faces attempted murder charges after targeting cyclists

A driver in San Francisco drove his 4x4 car into four cyclists, leaving three in hospital, during a six-minute rampage last week before fleeing the scene.

Police arrested the suspect, named as David Mark Clark, after he presented himself at a police station claiming that his vehicle had been carjacked.

Clark was arrested on four counts each of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and felony hit and run, reports the San Francisco Chronicle on its website, SFGate.com.

The incidents occurred last Wednesday in the Mission Hill and Potrero districts of the city, and the 4x4 used, a Nissan Rogue sports utility vehicle, was found to be registered to Clark, who left his keys, wallet and mobile phone behind when he escaped from the scene.

Officers from the San Francisco Police Department went to the vehicle’s registered address in Berkeley, but it turned out that Clark no longer lived there, and they eventually tracked him down following a joint surveillance operation with the Albany Police Department.

According to witnesses the attacks started at 9.43 p.m. last Wednesday evening in the Mission district on Harrison Street, near 23rd Street, when the SUV hit the first victim head on, colliding with the second moments later on 24th Street.

The third cyclist was struck at the corner of Pennsylvania Street and 23rd Street, after which the vehicle was driven at speed to Potrero Hill, where the fourth and final victim was hit at the corner of Missouri Street and 17th Street.

The vehicle was brought to a halt after colliding with a lamp post, whereupon the driver fled on foot , according to eyewitnesses.

One of the victims, 39-year-old Rory Madden, was treated at the scene for light injuries before being allowed to return home, while the other three, all male, suffered more serious injuries and were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. All three are expected to survive, according to a hospital spokeswoman.