Background: The area of the alleged attack in Abington Township, Pa. (WPVI/YouTube). Inset top: Phillip Prince (Abington Township Police Department). Inset bottom: Colin Cassidy (WPVI/YouTube).
A man in Pennsylvania was riding a bicycle when a Jeep driver confronted him over the belief that the bike was stolen and then smashed into the cyclist, sending him flying, authorities say.
Phillip Prince, 40, faces charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault by vehicle, homicide by vehicle, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person, the Abington Township Police Department announced. He was scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary arraignment on Monday.
On Sunday at about 8:30 p.m., 24-year-old Colin Cassidy was riding a "BMX-style bicycle" with three other cyclists. They were traveling in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, located some 15 miles north of Philadelphia.
Authorities said Prince started following them and, at one point, got out of his Jeep Compass to confront Cassidy and claim that the bicycle was stolen. Cassidy continued on — and apparently the Jeep did, too.
At the bottom of a hill on Meyer Avenue in the township, Cassidy had moved from the road to the sidewalk when the Jeep driver allegedly "crossed into the opposing lane of travel onto the sidewalk" and hit the back of Cassidy's bicycle. Cassidy was "thrown approximately 90 to 95 feet," police noted, saying videos and witness interviews backed up this version of events.
Officers were called to the scene, and they found Cassidy "unconscious and bleeding from his head." He was brought to a local hospital, "where he underwent emergency surgery for significant head trauma."
Authorities said Prince and the Jeep were still at the scene, with the vehicle having "front-end damage and a cracked windshield." He was arrested and booked in the Montgomery County Jail.
Local residents were left disturbed by the alleged act of violence.
"Even if it was over a bike, it still doesn't give the guy the right to mow someone down and try to basically kill them," neighbor Geoffrey Brams told local ABC affiliate WPVI.
Cassidy's mother said of her son's health: "We're just trying to be positive right now."
"We're hoping this will only take him a few months of recovery, is our biggest hope, and he can really return to the active, young guy that he was," she said, adding that she's "already lost one son."
She added that to "have a grown man target someone else like that, at any age, but let alone someone helpless on a bike, I can't even wrap my mind around it."
Prince is due to reappear in court for a preliminary hearing on July 22.
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