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'This Was No Accident': Police Searching For Driver Who Ran Over Cyclist During Community Bike Ride In Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A bicyclist taking part in a community bike ride in east Baltimore late last week was the victim of a hit-and-run, which he said was "no accident."

The group, sometimes totaling hundreds of people, hits the streets in Canton every other week. It was during their Friday night ride that Kenneth Pittrell was hit.

Pittrell didn't mince words describing the incident.

"This was no accident," he said.

Hundreds Of Cyclists Are Turning Out In Canton To Bike Ride To Stay Active During COVID-19 Pandemic

Pittrell said the driver of a red pick-up truck began terrorizing the riders as they headed down Eastern Avenue from Patterson Park.

"This was a direct, deliberate intent to hurt someone with his vehicle," he said.

As the group headed down Eastern Avenue, they said the driver began driving erratically and doing burnouts, filling the street with smoke.

"As we cut through the smoke, I saw that he was sitting there with a grin on his face like he was entertained with causing all of this disruption with the ride," Pittrell recalled.

Pittrell warned the riders to stay clear, but when the driver clipped a cyclist, they gave chase.

The group caught up to him at an intersection.

"He was in the far lane, and next thing you know he turns towards where we were and rammed his vehicle into a crowd of cyclists," Pittrell said.

Pittrell was live-streaming the ride on Facebook when the incident happened. The video shows a cyclist riding up alongside the truck and pointing at the driver. Seconds later, the camera falls as tires squeal in the background.

"He rode and drug me down the street maybe five or six feet and then road, forcing the truck to ride over top of me," Pittrell said. 

[The video can be seen here. Viewer discretion is advised.]

Cyclist Brian Henderson witnessed the ordeal.

"He couldn't initially clear him and was watching a pickup going to four wheel. boom, boom, boom and when it went up with the wheel spin the back wheel came and he's screaming already," he said.

Pittrell's wife Latricia was several blocks ahead when she got a call about what happened.

"For the first three seconds before he said, 'But he's okay,' yeah, I thought the worst," she said.

Pittrell suffered ligament damage and cuts and bruises to his leg.

Despite that, he plans to get back on his bike as soon as he can, "Just to show people that hey, you can get back up from situations like this and that people that hate and people that don't have love in their hearts, that we're going to still win," he said. "They can't win because love is always going to win."

Anyone with information about Friday's incident should call police.

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