A cyclist enthusiast has been left paralyzed from the shoulders down after he was badly beaten during a road-rage incident in New Orleans.
Doug David, aged 64, of San Diego, told police that he was attacked by a driver, who officers suspect was Louisiana 30-year-old Christopher S Smith, after he was nearly struck by the man’s vehicle while crossing the street near the French Quarter on October 15th at around 11pm.
‘He was crossing the street and someone ran the stop sign and almost hit him.’ his niece Alicia Foulds told NBC 7. ‘
After the beer can hit the car’s roof, the driver of the small black vehicle then got out of his car and hit David in the face.
The victim doesn’t remember anything after being punched, New Orleans police said.
David said the next thing that he remembers waking up in the hospital without feeling in his arms and legs, according to the Times Picayune.
Police officers took 40 minutes to get to the scene the night of the incident, by which time David had been taken to the hospital by an ambulance and the suspect was nowhere to be found.
‘With neither the victim nor witnesses on scene, the incident was marked up unfounded,’ New Orleans Police said in a statement.
Officers then took ten days to contact David in a New Orleans hospital after receiving calls from his family members.
His family created a Give Forward page in hopes of paying for medical bills, including the cost of the $20,000 air ambulance that was used to fly him back to California.
Police are still looking for the driver in the incident, who is accused of second-degree battery. The suspect has been named as Smith, and his car has a Louisiana license plate of XQT199, police said.
Read More: San Diegan Paralyzed After Apparent Road-Rage Beating Closer to Home
