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BMW Driver Dragged From Car, Pinned to the Ground in Altercation With About 50 Bicyclists on Koreatown Street

Witnesses say the driver appeared to "inch" toward a group of about 50 bicyclists as they crossed an intersection

A group of bicyclists wrestled a BMW driver from his car and pinned him to the ground Thursday night in what authorities described as a road rage confrontation.

Officers responded to the altercation around 10 p.m. in Koreatown. Video showed a group of people surrounding the white BMW sedan before pulling the driver from the car, which witnesses said appeared to pull out into an intersection toward a large group of bike riders.

Some members of a group of about 50-60 bicyclists were riding through the intersection on the green light when it turned red, said LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman. Some of the other bicyclists then entered the intersection on the red light, she said.

The driver then entered the intersection legally on the green light, and slightly bumped one of the bicyclists, according to Eisenman. 

"It was a case of one of the cars starting to inch toward the bikers," said witness Brandon Pak. "One guy went over and said something. They got into an altercation, a shouting match." 

The driver then accelerated as one of the bicyclists held onto the car's door, witnesses said. The driver stopped as the group surrounded the vehicle, according to witness reports. 

The man was dragged from the car and pinned to the ground. 

"They didn't really beat him up, they just pinned him to the ground," Pak said.

One of the riders can be heard shouting that the driver struck a bicyclist. The video also shows an individual, possibly one of the bicyclists, on the ground next to the driver's side door.

Police took a battery and traffic report, but no one was arrested or cited, pending further investigation,

"It's just road rage to me," Pak added. "You see a group of 50 people going through the street, you let them go through. There's no point in trying to test them."

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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