They Got My Bike; I Went To The Hospital

I was biking back from work at MakeHaven at 2 a.m. after working late on a project with my colleague Lior. As I rounded the corner on my bike from Chapel onto East Pearl, where I live, I saw a suspicious man giving me a hard stare from the corner of the sidewalk.

He was tall, muscular, lanky, Caucasian likely in his 30s, with faded tattoos on his upper arms. He was wearing what appeared to be a blue sleeveless jersey and a baseball hat. He appeared blonde, clean shaven or with light scraggly facial hair.

He made an aggressive crossing of the street towards me. I sped up and swerved to avoid him.

But he sprinted forward, lunged and got me on the side.

He pushed hard like a football tackle throwing me from my bike sideways towards the sidewalk on the other side.

I was stunned, and so instinctively asked, ​“What are you doing?”

As I stood up, with my bike laying in the street, he matter factually stated, ​“I’m going to take your bike.”

Stunned, I said, ​“But I don’t want you to take my bike.”

At this point another person was approaching. I thought for a moment he might be coming to help me. In moments, I realized he wasn’t.

“Are you with him?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m with him,” he said.

Then he took on the stance of a bouncing boxer. ​“Oh Geez,” I said. And he took a big swing at my head.

Fortunately I was wearing my bicycle helmet and was able to maneuver so that he just punched the helmet. A which point I said, ​“Just take the bike.”

They took the bike walking off down East Pearl Street.

I still had my phone in my pocket, so I immediately called 911. It was clear my wrist was hurt pretty bad and was deformed.

I described the assailants and my position as best I could to 911. The police came and asked details about the assailants’ description several times. They called an ambulance, and I was taken to Saint Raphael’s.

I was seen there around 3 a.m. Through X‑rays I discovered I had a fractured wrist in three places on my left and a broken clavicle on my right.

They had trouble setting the wrist fracture fully since it was multiple parts and it will require a follow-up plate and surgery. Fortunate the clavicle should heal functionally within a couple weeks.

All things considered, I am managing well. I’ve had many friends offer assistance and food, so I am well taken care of. Probably the worst part is how random this felt. I’ve often worked on projects that go late, and felt that biking quickly afforded relative protection/deterrence. This time I was not lucky.

Thanks to those who have already provided our offered help. Time will heal.

J.R. Logan, pictured, is the managing director at MakeHaven on Chapel Street.