Bicyclist hit, run casualty

ACopyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Philip Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — The number of hit-and-run calls received by the Gallup Police Department increased by one to 17 Thursday. And for the victim of the incident, the most disappointing thing is that nobody stopped to help.

Jared Leggett, 30, of Jamestown, rides his bike to work at the Water Store every day. Thursday he pedaled over to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital when his shift ended, donated a pint of B-positive blood and started on the 17-mile ride home at about 5 p.m. Normally he doesn’t ride on Boardman Drive but Thursday, in order to take part in the Gallup Community Blood Drive, he had to.

As he approached Magistrate Court in the far right of the northbound lane, most cars moved over to make way, but one orange Pontiac Vibe pulled in tight and honked.

“I couldn’t understand why this guy was not going over,” Leggett, who saw the Vibe in rearview mirrors mounted to his helmet, said Friday.

He said that as he looked back over his left shoulder, the driver of the Vibe accelerated and caught Leggett’s rear wheel, sending his body over the handlebars and scraping across the pavement. He was shocked and sat up and caught his breath for 15 or 20 seconds, watching rows of unconcerned drivers continue motoring into after-work traffic.

Leggett said his injuries were minor, pavement scrapes and bruises up and down the right side of his body; his handlebars were bent and the rear wheel of his bike had to be replaced. He stood up, disheartened by his community, and walked to a telephone at Magistrate Court to call his dad for a ride home.

Phone calls to two of Gallup Police Department’s three officers trained in “press relations,” — Lt. Rick White and Deputy Chief John Allen — to ask about the departments strategy to curb hit-and-runs, were not returned.