Cyclist Run Down, Perhaps on Purpose

Detectives are investigating whether a motorist may have run down a bicyclist on purpose after a dispute Sunday, police said.

Police were alerted by reports of an injured person lying unconscious in the 7200 block of Wyoming Street, said Westminster Police Lt. Richard Main. Witnesses at the scene told police the victim and the motorist appeared to have been arguing, Main said.

“It started out as a report of a person down, then a hit-and-run, now we’re looking at whether the driver drove over the bicyclist on purpose,” Main said, adding that he did not know the nature of the dispute that may have led to the incident.

The bicyclist, whose name was not being released until relatives could be notified, was reported in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange late Sunday night, Main said.

Descriptions of the car believed to have struck the bicyclist led police to a black sports car with a smashed windshield parked in the 13600 block of Tahoe Street, Main said.

Authorities were searching for the driver of the vehicle late Sunday.