London cyclist sought after baby showered with glass in road rage attack on learner driver’s car

Police are investigating an alleged road rage attack in which a Croydon cyclist smashed a car window, showering a three-month old boy in glass. Remarkably, the boy is said to have slept through the attack.

Rhiannon Gautama was supervising her partner, a learner driver, during Monday morning rush-hour when a cyclist hit the passenger side of the car with his hand.

Writing on Facebook, Gautama said: “The only reason I could think he did this is he possibly felt he didn’t have enough room to get through.”

When they passed the cyclist a little further on, Gautama pointed out the car’s L-plates and asked him to show more consideration. “He caught up again as we hit traffic, he switched to the other side and smashed our car window with his bike lock.”

The couple’s son, Jasper, was said to have been showered in glass as a result of the attack. Gautama told the BBC that after first checking he was okay, she called the police.

"Jasper was asleep the whole time but when I took him out of his car seat there was all this glass falling out of the seat everywhere, but he was just smiling. I guess, in hindsight the cyclist may have thought we were too far on his side of the road and there wasn't enough room to get past us, but he still managed to cycle past us.”

The incident is said to have happened at about 8.40am in Croydon Road, Beddington, near the junction with Beddington Lane. Gautama described the cyclist as a white man, with long blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a yellow jacket and clear cycle glasses, possibly in his thirties.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers were investigating a report of criminal damage but no arrests had yet been made.

"I think I will never say anything again,” added Gautama. “You just don't know who you are speaking to."

Earlier this year, a cyclist caught on film attacking a car with a bike lock in San Francisco was charged with a series of felonies. The incident, which took place during the monthly Critical Mass protest ride, began as a stand-off between protestors and a driver with the cyclists surrounding the car. When the driver tried to manoeuvre around them, one hit the car with his bike, while another repeatedly swung at it with a D-lock.