Midtown Cyclist Hit By Car Admits Slashing Driver's Tires, Says It Was In Self-Defense
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The bicyclist who was allegedly targeted by a driver in Midtown Sacramento admits to slashing the driver's tires, but said he did so in self defense.
Police say Wesley Tran was drinking that night when he intentionally hit one cyclist, and accidentally ran over two others.
Brian Ersen has a broken ankle, bruised ribs, a severed artery near his ear, and most of his body is covered in road rash after police say he was intentionally run over on his bicycle by Tran.
"We are riding and the car approaches us and breaks the double yellow and comes right at myself and my friend, we don't know why," Eren said.
The cyclist says he and some friends were riding home from Second Saturday in Midtown when Tran swerved into them. Ersen says afterward he tried to ask him why.
"He didn't say anything to me, he didn't roll his window down, he put his car in reverse, turns the wheel towards me, puts it in first and rams me," Ersen said.
Ersen say the second time he fell off his bike and Tran tried to drive away through a large Saturday night Midtown crowd.
"I did slash his right rear tire in order to prevent the hit and run, or try to get him to stop," he said.
CBS13 spoke to Tran in a jailhouse interview on Sunday where he claims Ersen was the one who started it.
"I was just trying to get somewhere, and then I get my car busted and my tires slashed," Tran said on Sunday. "And while I'm fixing my tires they come and harass me more."
But Ersen says he's telling it all wrong. Later that night, Ersen ran into Tran again as he was changing his tire. That's when he says Tran got back into his car and hit him a third time, sending Ersen's head through the windshield.
"He showed no regard for my life," he said. "The doctor said I was very close to bleeding out on the spot."