Cyclist Says Driver Offered Him Wad Of Cash After Dooring Him, Then Left
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A search was under way Monday for the driver of a car who hit a bicyclist with his door and then drove off.
Before the driver left, he tried to give a handful of cash to the man bleeding on the sidewalk. The victim shared his story with CBS 2's Tim McNicholas.
"I was in so much shock and pain," said Tim Biedakiewicz.
A cast covered Biedakewicz's right hand weeks after the accident.
"I had to get like between five to like nine stitches," he said.
Biedakewicz's glove was also left cut up and bloodied from the hit-and-run.
"Maybe shame on me for not getting his, you know, plate. You know, but that was the last on my mind," he said. "I didn't know if I had my fingers or not."
Biedakewicz was riding his bike home from work on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 54th Street and Kedzie Avenue in Gage Park. Police said someone in a car opened the driver's side door toward traffic, and Biedakewicz hit the door.
"I was in terrible shock," he said.
Biedakewicz remembers someone from the car asking if he was OK. When he got his bike to the sidewalk, he said he took off his glove and saw a whole lot of blood and a crooked finger – and then he heard a voice behind him.
"'Hey buddy! Hey buddy! And it was him, pulled up in his car. As he reached over the passenger side, there was like a wad of money he wanted to offer me, and I said, 'I don't want your money,' and that's the last I saw of him," Biedakewicz said. "He took off."
CBS 2 reported in 2018 on a statewide push to get drivers to open their doors with their right hand, also known as a Dutch reach, so they will turn to check for cyclists and prevent injuries like the one Biedakewicz suffered.
Illinois added the Dutch reach to the rules of the road, and even included questions about it on driver's tests starting last year.
Since then, dooring accidents are down in Chicago, with 333 reported in 2018 and 258 reported in 2019.
The car is described as a black 2008-2012 Chevrolet Malibu sedan with a missing left front hubcap. The car was last seen headed west on 55th Street from Kedzie Avenue.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police Major Accident Investigation Unit at (312) 745-4521.
