Bicyclist Hospitalized By Hit And Run Semi In Bridgeport Fears No Arrest Will Ever Be Made
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A bicyclist hit by a semi truck and left for dead in Bridgeport now faces a long road to recovery.
Thomas Wickham has gone through countless surgeries at Stroger Hospital for all sorts of fractures and internal injuries, but he didn't die or suffer a catastrophic injury. That has his family doubting an arrest will ever be made.
"I don't understand how somebody can do that," said Wickham's mother Dawn Bradley. "It was like they hit him and left him for dead basically."
Wickham woke up last Wednesday in a hospital bed.
"He also has a lot of fractures, and his pelvis was crushed," Bradley said.
Wickham was riding his bike along Racine near Cermak on his way home from his food delivery route when he collided with a turning white semi truck.
"The way the traffic's rolling right now, he popped out to beat the traffic, and he hit the kid," said Gregory Mendoza, who said he saw the accident.
He said he saw the semi driver stop for a moment, but then, "I looked, and I saw the truck keep going."
The driver took off and so did Mendoza, chasing the semi truck through the streets of Pilsen.
The driver got away, and he might never get caught.
A Chicago attorney said more resources are put towards a hit and run case if the person dies or suffers a catastrophic injury. Those factors get the major accident investigations unit involved.
"We've been told they're only handling death investigations right now," Bradley said. "It actually makes me very angry because the time they're wasting... evidence is getting away that in itself is something that would help solve the crime."
A AAA study found that hit and run crashes are at a record high.