Bicyclist Attacks Students On Capital Crescent Trail: Police

BETHESDA, MD — A man being sought by police for attacking people on the Capital Crescent Trail assaulted several college students posting signs for George Floyd, one of the victims told Patch.

The incident occurred around 12:45 p.m. on Monday.

"He was just cycling down the trail," one of the victims, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "He videoed us on his first pass by, then stopped about 50 feet passed us and asked to see my signs, in a friendly tone. When I went to show him the signs he ripped them out of my hands and then started to go after my friends. That's when I started recording."

The video has been posted on Reddit, garnering more than 57,000 upvotes from users.

In the video, the man can be seen trying to yank a roll of tape off a woman's arm before using his bicycle to charge at the man who is filming.

The victim recording the incident said the man tried pinning him to the ground with his bike.

In the past days, the victim said he had put up signs in his neighborhood to bring attention to Floyd, a black man whose death in police custody sparked global protests over police brutality and racism. He's never been confronted by a passerby like this.

"Honestly, I was mostly scared for my friends," he told Patch. "While I'm young, I'm not a tiny person and I can defend myself if need be ... my friends that I was with are both small women and to have a large man approach them and physically rip things out of their hands is quite terrifying, and they were both pretty shaken up after."

The Maryland-National Capital Park Police posted photos of the suspect on Twitter Tuesday. The suspect is described as a 6-foot tall white male with short brown hair. They believe he is between 50 and 60 years old.

We are seeking the public's assistance in identifying the below individual in reference to an assault that took place this morning on the Capital Creacent trail. Please contact Det. Lopez at 301-929-2774 with any information. Pease reference case number 20001297. pic.twitter.com/EtC9Q0xBOp
— Park Police MC (@ParkPolice) June 2, 2020

Police ask anyone with additional information to call Det. Crystal Lopez at 301- 929-2774.

A video of the incident can be found here.

Editor's note: This video contains profanity.