Police are attempting to trace a Birmingham motorist after he allegedly chased a cyclist before mounting a kerb and hitting him. The cyclist’s mother believes that the victim only survived being run over because he was on boggy grass at the time and not the road.
The Birmingham Mail reports that the incident occurred in Northfield, at 1.45am on September 23.
The mother of the 17-year-old victim – who has not been named – said: “We had been celebrating my daughter’s birthday and had just walked back from my sister’s house. My son was on his bike and said he wanted to speak to his friend who was at the end of the road. I told him to be five minutes because it was late.
“The next thing I knew, somebody was knocking my door and telling me that he had been hit by a car.”
She said that a car pulled up alongside her son while he was on the phone to his friend and the driver said something, which he didn’t hear.
The cyclist decided to ride off and his mother said: “The car followed him and mounted the kerb in the next street. He thought he had got away on St Laurence Road but as he was driving on grass, the car mounted the kerb for a second time, knocked him off the bike and drove over him.”
The victim, who was left with a tyre mark on his body, subsequently underwent surgery for a broken collar bone.
His mother said: “I just want people to come forward with information. It’s a miracle he wasn’t killed. The person’s car would have probably suffered some kind of damage and I’m sure someone will know who did this.
“The medical staff said if he had been driven over on the road, and not on grass that was boggy because of the rain, he would have been killed. I hope somebody will have CCTV, or may have seen the car in the lead up to what happened.
“The police say they think it was probably a case of mistaken identity because my son did not know or even speak to the driver. He has just started college and this has had a huge impact on him.”
The driver was aged in his late teens or early 20s. After initially speaking to the cyclist on Dinmore Avenue, he chased him into Heath Road South before hitting him on a grassy area of St Laurence Road.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “It’s believed the car, a blue Renault Clio, drove at the teen deliberately.
“The 17-year-old was taken to hospital with injuries including broken bones and cuts. He is now back home and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Police are trying to trace the vehicle and people involved. If you saw anything, have any information or live in the area in and around St Laurence Road and may have CCTV images, contact West Midlands Police quoting crime number 20BW/202870P/17.”
You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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