Police on trail of BMXer who kicked London cyclist off bike

Raphael Carrondo, the cyclist whose video of another rider kicking him off his bike in London has had 150,000 views, says police have taken on the case and are confident of catching the BMXer who assaulted him.

Carrondo was riding east along Victoria Embankment at about 5:15 pm on August 6, on his way home from work, when he overtook a rider on a BMX at the pedestrian lights just outside Embankment Station.

Seconds later, as he approached a bus, the BMXer attempted to pass him on the inside and shortly after that Carrondo found himself on the road after the BMXer kicked his front wheel out.

Carrondo captured the whole incident on his handlebar-mounted video camera and posted it to YouTube.

After initially being rebuffed, Carrondo says the police are now investigating the case.

He told road.cc: "Police [are] pretty confident they can find him now that they decided to take on the case."

But Carrondo said he was shocked at the level of abuse he has been subject to on YouTube.

The 32-year-old sales and marketing consultant originally from Brazil, told the Evening Standard's Rachel Blundy he posted the video after police said they couldn't help him.

But he wasn't prepared to be subjected to accusations that he had caused the assault by deliberately blocking the BMX rider who subsequently knocked him off his bike, or that he'd faked the whole thing.

In a video interview on the Standard's website Carrondo said the police told him they could not afford the resources to track down the BMXer if he didn't know who he was. He admitted he didn't mention the video.

He then decided to post the video. "The next day I say, 'If the police can't do anything, I can.' This is something that probably happens every day, that kid probably did something to someone else. With social media as it is today we can find someone doing the wrong thing."

What I wasn't expecting was that when I put it online, that the wrong became me. Everybody was trying to justify why the kid would react like this."

Some of the more polite comments aimed at Carrondo included:

• "You cut him up forcing him to go into the red bus at 00:11. Deal with it"
• "I'm surprised the guy on the BMX didn't stop after he kicked you off.....and beat you round the head with your own bike."
• "I can only imagine the muppet that fell did something previously to the cyclist who tripped him,";
• "I've watched this a number of times, and it's safe to say... you sir should not be on the road."
• "This video is fake, if you go frame by frame it doesn't make any sense. You're a phony and lame."

Carrondo was accused of having deliberately blocked the BMXer as he tried to undertake Carrondo and then of 'brake-checking' the BMXer and so precipitating the attack. He maintains he was slowing to allow another rider to pass.

Other commenters suggested that something had happened between them before Carrondo overtook the BMXer, so Carrondo posted this video which includes the minute before he passed the BMXer at the lights outside Embankment Tube station:

Many commenters did take Carrondo's side. A typical supporting comment saw petetube99 getting exasperated with the doubters. He posted: "Who cares what happened before this or who cut up who, kicking someones front wheel is fucking brutal, the intention is serious injury. Once that becomes accepted behaviour we're all at risk. I can't believe anyone who cycles is condoning this. You must be mad."

With the Met now on the trail of Carrondo's attacker, we may yet find out why he got upset enough with the Brazilian to put his life in danger.