Texas teenager who hit 6 bicyclists with his truck faces felony charges, authorities say
A 16-year-old from Texas has been charged with six felony counts after hitting six bicyclists with his pickup truck while trying to blow exhaust smoke in late September, authorities announced Monday.
In a statement, the Waller County district attorney’s office said the teenager has been charged with six counts of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — one charge for each cyclist that was injured on Sept. 25. The juvenile wasn't arrested when police arrived at the scene, but the Waller Police Department told Paste BN in September that officials were investigating.
"Over the last six weeks this office has assigned its own investigators to seek out evidence, and to interview the victims and witnesses," the district attorney’s statement said. "Earlier today the juvenile voluntarily surrendered himself, and was detained by representatives from the juvenile justice department where he will be held in custody until further orders of the juvenile court."
The incident happened near Waller, Texas, as cyclists were training for IRONMAN Texas, a long-distance triathlon, and were 75 miles into their ride when a black diesel truck pulled up close to them, Chase Ferrell, a cyclist in the group, told FOX 26.
Ferrell said the truck slowed, then accelerated to blow exhaust smoke at the cyclists. When the driver tried to do the same thing to cyclists ahead of Ferrell, he struck them. Four out of the six cyclists were taken to the hospital, including two by helicopter, according to FOX 26.
Some have criticized and questioned why it took so long for charges to be filed and why the teen wasn't immediately arrested. Last month, Waller Police Department's police chief directly addressed the criticism in a Facebook post on the department's page.
Related: 16-year-old in pickup truck tried to blow exhaust smoke on cyclists, then struck them, witness says
"It has been stated that our agency mishandled the initial investigation of the crash scene. That is true," Police Chief Bill Llewellyn wrote. The deficiencies in handling the case were "due to a lack of knowledge on our part," Llewellyn's post added.
The chief also defended his police force and the trooper who responded to the scene, writing that "her assistance was greatly appreciated" and "instrumental" in documenting information.
District Attorney Elton Mathis said his office was investigating whether there was “criminal interference” between police and the parents of the driver, as they are a prominent family that owns several businesses in the area, The Washington Post reported.
Llewellyn denied that the police department was influenced by "any member of city administration," and wrote that he has never met any of the parties involved in the crash.
Contributing: Asha Gilbert, Paste BN