San Francisco police arrested a man Saturday who they believe used a U-lock to smash a driver’s window during last month’s Critical Mass bike ride, and which went viral after being posted on YouTube, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Police identified the suspect as 39-year-old Ian Hespelt of San Francisco, who had been riding his bicycle near McCovey Cove, police told the Chronicle.
The officers noticed that Hespelt matched the description of the man in the video seen swinging the lock, and his bike was a match too, police said. Hespelt was detained and taken to the Southern Station for questioning.
The video at the center of the arrest was posted on Aug. 29 by YouTube user "Bike42363," stemming from the attack two days earlier. By Monday, the video had been seen almost 250,000 times.
The video starts with a group of Critical Mass cyclists riding with their trademark bright lights and music on Marina Boulevard, shows one of the cyclists riding up to a dark station-wagon and yelling: “Hey, stop that! – No, no, no, no, no no!”
“You ain’t going nowhere,” someone can be heard saying as more cyclists appear in the frame.
“You _______ hit my bike,” the original cyclist can be heard saying, as at least six to seven cyclists surround the car. And then someone yells: “Selfish b_____,” The cyclists keep talking to the driver, who starts backing up after a few minutes. At this point one of the cyclists starts hitting the hood of the car with his bike while another cyclist hits the side of the car with his U-Lock at least three times.
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The woman driver finally takes off.
