Cop Charged With Striking Cyclist, Then Lying About It
CHICAGO (STMW) -- An off-duty Chicago police officer allegedly ran his car into a young woman riding her bicycle and later blamed her for causing the accident, the Sun-Times is reporting.
Michael Bergeson, 33, even called 911 twice after the Aug. 3 incident at California and Wabansia but claimed ignorance as to why she was injured, Cook County prosecutors said in court Thursday.
The victim was riding her bicycle at 3:25 a.m. with her boyfriend behind her when Bergeson allegedly struck her with his Ford F150. The victim flew over the hood of the car and landed on the street, bleeding with a head wound, prosecutors said.
She was in and out of conscious from the wreck when the officer stepped out of the truck and called 911 without identifying himself and said "female down, reason unknown, appears to be conscious," prosecutors said.
Two minutes later, he called 911 again. This time he allegedly said, "possible AA female injured."
As the ambulance approached three minutes later, Bergeson drove his truck around the victim and hit two parked cars, which caused his license plate to come off, prosecutors said.
The woman suffered multiple facial injuries, fractured bones in her foot and abrasions to her body. She had to spend two days in the hospital, prosecutors said.
The day of the accident, responding officers were able to trace the license plate to Bergeson's home in the 1800 block of North Whipple, prosecutors said. He didn't answer the door and the truck was nowhere to be seen.
Two days after the accident, the officer filed a police report in the 25th District, stating that he was traveling northbound on California when the victim disregarded a stop sign at Wabansia and hit him, prosecutors said,
He also allegedly blamed her for his license plate falling off but medical and forensic records indicate he was to blame for the wreck.
The officer was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injuries and disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
Bergeson, who has been with the department since 2003, was ordered held on a $25,000 bond.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
