SandyMaloneLos Angeles, CA – A pedestrian was struck by a hit-and-run driver while taking part in a vigil for a bicyclist who was killed in a hit-and-run the day before, and witnesses said it was intentional (video below).
On April 11, a group of about 100 bicyclists gathered at the intersection of Manchester and Normandie Avenues to protest and bring attention to their friend, Frederick Frasier Jr., who had been killed the previous day, KABC reported.
What had been touted as a peaceful vigil turned into a violent riot after the participants began blocking traffic in the intersection.
Video taken by witnesses and posted to social media showed that after protesters blocked the street, a police SUV driven by Los Angeles Police Sergeant Rudy Ramirez arrived to clear the intersection.
Demonstrators began banging on the sides of the police vehicle with their fists, and in some cases, their bicycles, the video showed.
In the background of one of the videos, a witness can be heard telling the protesters who had attacked the police car to leave, and to take off their clothes so they wouldn’t be able to be identified and arrested.
The police SUV circled the intersection in an attempt to clear the protesters, and was eventually joined by some other police cars, the video showed.
All of a sudden, a tan sedan plowed into the intersection through a red light, past a police car, and ran over a demonstrator who was blocking the road, the video showed.
The man and his bike flew through the air, but the car barely slowed down before it took off down the road, with more than a dozen angry bicyclists in hot pursuit, the video showed.
The injured man, identified as Quatrell Stallings, was able to get up and hop out of the roadway, and other protesters were rendering aid as they waited for an ambulance to arrive, the video showed.
Stallings was transported to the hospital and underwent surgery for injuries to his femur, knee, and ankle, KTLA reported. He was recuperating at Dignity Health-California Medical Center.
Witnesses said the car had struck Stallings intentionally, KABC reported.
Moses Williams told KABC that Stallings had gotten into an argument with the woman driving the car a few minutes before he was hit.
“She got into a dispute with one of our bikers… when things didn’t go her way, she came down Manchester, did a U-turn, and sped back into traffic. She swerved through a bunch of bikers and Trell pushed a lady out of the way and then when he turned around, she hit him,” Williams said.
Sgt. Ramirez told KTLA that the woman had either gotten out of her vehicle or “been taken out” of her car by demonstrators.
“The crowd started turning on her and were striking her,” Sgt. Ramirez said.
Clear pictures of the sedan that hit Stallings provided police with a license plate number that wasn’t on record, meaning it was either fake or the registration was expired, according to KTLA.
You can see the video of the incident below. WARNING – Graphic Content: