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Video: Driver, 74, confronts cyclists with baseball bat after allegedly injuring rider

Sherman Clark said to have braked in rider's path, leaving him with fractured wrist...

A 74-year-old man in Texas has been caught on camera wielding a baseball bat as he confronted a group of cyclists, one of whom was left with a fractured wrist when the driver allegedly veered into him and braked hard moments before. The film, posted to YouTube, also shows the motorist running over a bike as he drives off.

The driver of the pick-up truck, Sherman Clark, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief as a result of the incident, which took place near Conroe, 20 miles north of Houston, on Thursday evening.

According to a report on the website of local TV station KHOU, ten members of the Woodlands Cycling Club were on a group ride on Lake Forest Drive when Clark pulled up alongside the riders, who were in single file, and yelled at them to get off the road.

After moving ahead of them, it is alleged he then slammed on his brakes, causing one of the cyclists, Rick Sauvageau, to crash into the rear of Clark’s vehicle. The rider suffered a fractured wrist and also hurt his knee and shoulder.

“Once he saw me in his mirror, he veered right and slammed on the brakes. I had no time to react,” claimed the cyclist.  “It was beyond me that the guy would do that in the first place.”

After Clark got out of his vehicle, baseball bat in hand, one of Mr Sauvageau’s club mates used his mobile phone to record what was happening.

One rider asked the motorist: “Sir, why you holding a bat?”

Clark responded: “To protect myself.”

The same cyclist inquired: “What did we do wrong?”

The driver, waving the baseball bat towards his inquisitor, replied: “You were riding all over the damn road for one thing.”

“You drove right past us, no problem,” noted the cyclist. “You got in front of us, didn't you? And then somebody tried, yeah, and you ran them off the road?”

“Yes, you're damn right,” concluded Clark before getting back in his pick-up truck and driving off, running over a bike in the process, one of the cyclists aiming a kick at the vehicle in response.

Mail Online spoke to Clark who says that the assault charge was dropped when he was arraigned on Friday, although the website adds that it has not been able to obtain confirmation of that from police.

The driver admitted that he had previously had angry exchanges with the same riders, whom he sees as disturbing the peace and quiet of his neighbourhood and not obeying the rules of the road.

"This club comes out here and rides around and around and around our circle," hemaintained. "They make a nuisance of themselves."

Putting forward his version of Thursday's events, he said: "I pulled up to the side of them and rolled down my window and hollered ‘why don’t y’all get out of our neighbourhood?’"

He claims that Mr Sauvageau ran into the back of the truck because he was riding too fast.

Regarding the video footage, he maintained: "This guy that was shooting the video was questioning me like an attorney.

"They had my truck, totally circled, I got out with a baseball bat to have something to protect myself because there’s 10 of them, one of me.

"I got back in my truck, said ‘I’m leaving, you can’t make stay here. You better get out from in front of my truck or I guess I’ll have to run over you."

He added that the riders got out of his way but one left his bike, which eas crushed under the pick-up truck's wheels as it was driven off.

However, club member Steve Schoger insisted to KHOU that none of the riders had done anything to provoke the driver, saying: “He needs counselling for sure. He needs Jesus.”

 

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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19 comments

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chadders | 10 years ago
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From the posts I read on here its like the trailer to "Cycling in Surrey" the movie.

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harrybav | 10 years ago
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I agree with the others - this is not the content I want from road.cc.

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Karbon Kev | 10 years ago
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This silly old bar steward needs locking up thats for sure ...

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The Rumpo Kid | 10 years ago
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Christ on a bike?

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BigDummy | 10 years ago
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I am adopting "he needs Jesus" as my standard rationalisation of the behaviour of ass-hats on the road.

 41

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Colin Peyresourde | 10 years ago
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I agree with Jasecd. This is the exception, not the norm. Why not try to promote more of the positives of cycling. Stories from around the globe where cycling has brought people together, or from spectacular rides. This negative slant is unproductive.

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Getafix | 10 years ago
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Classic, "They had my truck, totally circled, I got out with a baseball bat to have something to protect myself because there’s 10 of them, one of me."

If he felt threatened why did he get out the truck?

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pwake | 10 years ago
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Seems pretty relevant to me. I'm a Brit ex-pat living in Texas, used to live in The Woodlands and ride with Woodlands Cycling Club and I check out Road.cc
The World's full of assholes wherever you live; this being Texas, they're just lucky the guy didn't jump out with a gun and be prepared to use it!

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northstar | 10 years ago
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The only nuisance it seems is him.

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roos | 10 years ago
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jaseCD has a valid point.... is road.cc not going a bit far with all these videos? It seems to feature more and more of the Motorist Vs Cyclist issues than more positive cycling news etc....

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Raleigh | 10 years ago
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Twat

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sm | 10 years ago
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I learned a long time ago not to try and reason with an idiot. It's no win.

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Rouboy | 10 years ago
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And I thought people only hated cyclists in the UK?

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Argos74 | 10 years ago
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Quote:

He needs counselling for sure. He needs Jesus.

Appropriate criminal legal sanction and civil litigation, certainly, but there's such a thing as going too far.

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Tom Amos | 10 years ago
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"It's not even in Britain"

I'm no technology expert but I understand that it is possible to read road.cc worldwide.  39

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jasecd replied to Tom Amos | 10 years ago
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@Tom Amos

Of course you can read it worldwide - my point was that as a UK website it is less relevant than if it was here, i.e. sensationalist.

I really rate this site and it reports on a whole range of interesting cycling issues but just occasionally it feels like some articles and clips are thrown in to fuel the fire.

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jarredscycling replied to Tom Amos | 10 years ago
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Tom Amos wrote:

"It's not even in Britain"

I'm no technology expert but I understand that it is possible to read road.cc worldwide.  39

Point well taken but seriously I live in the states and I read road.cc because I think it's a great site. I am glad they report about some things from across the pond but it is kind of sad that they are always negative. For the record I'm not claiming that is road.cc's fault

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GerardR replied to Tom Amos | 10 years ago
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Me, I'm in the Antipodes and enjoy reading. And yay! summer's coming (even though I'm about to get wet riding to work).

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jasecd | 10 years ago
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The guy's a first class p***k for sure, but if I'm honest I do wonder why this is being reported on road.cc?

It feels quite sensationalist - it's a rare incident and it's not even in Britain. I worry that continued publication of this type of thing may add to the two tribes mentality.

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