Police Seek Owners Of Unleashed Dogs Who Caused Fatal Bike Crash
(CBS) -- A bicyclist riding through a Morton Grove forest preserve has been killed. He was apparently knocked from his bike by out-of-control dogs.
CBS 2's Mike Parker has the story.
The bike path that winds for miles through the Harms Woods preserve is popular with cyclists.
Last Friday, Wladyslav "Walter" Bujak – a 68-year-old Northbrook man -- was on the trail doing what he loved. But Bujak did not finish his ride.
His daughter, Joanne Bujak, says what happened was a "senseless, tragic death that shouldn't have happened."
Witnesses say a man and woman let their dogs get away from them. Trailing their leashes, the animals jumped at Bujak as he rode by. He was thrown to the ground, critically hurt.
Some witnesses say that after the bicycle went over, the owners of the dogs knelt down, untangled the leashes from the spokes and then took off and headed for the parking lot with their dogs, leaving the injured Bujak behind.
"They didn't even call 9-1-1," Joanne Bujak says.
That baffles police.
"I would always want someone to render aid to whoever was involved in the accident, to be there to call 9-1-1, to explain their side of the story," Cook County Sheriff's Police Investigator Nathan Camer says.
Others in the preserve did make 911 calls and help arrived. But Bujak never regained consciousness. He died five days later at Northwestern Hospital.
Detectives and the Bujak family are urging anyone with information to call investigators at (708) 865-4896.
