Chilling 911 recordings reveal the tense moment when a cyclist in Ohio narrowly escaped being hit by an SUV driven by a man.
Just moments before this, authorities reported that the suspect, 42-year-old Michael Leppelmeier, intentionally collided with another cyclist.
‘I’m riding my bike and some guy went by in a white Ford Explorer and threw a fricking battery pack at me. He’s right here, right now!’ the unnamed 68-year-old victim is heard saying in the clip after the incident happened on Wednesday morning.
During the frantic call, a voice exclaimed, “Now he’s trying to hit me with his car! Holy—” as the situation unfolded.
Mentor police quickly responded to the scene, but by the time they arrived, the suspect had fled, according to an official statement.
Body camera footage from the officers captures the victim recounting how the driver attempted to “run him over” while he was on his bike and then got out of the vehicle to physically confront him after failing to hit.
The man recalls in the footage, “He threw my freaking bicycle,” gesturing towards a pond where his bike ended up.
‘Look? See my bike? It’s a $3,500 bike and he took my phone.’
In police bodycam, a 68-year-old cyclist in Mentor, Ohio, is seen explaining how he was assaulted by a 42-year-old local on Wednesday
The suspect, later identified as 42-year-old Michael Leppelmeier, was arrested after a standoff outside his home
Minutes before, the officers received another 911 call from a woman who said she saw a separate biker ‘hit by a speeding car in front of [her] house.’
Officers arrived to find another cyclist, a 72-year-old man, hurt as well. He was physically hit by the car in question and was left sitting on the pavement, more footage shows.
‘I was riding along the road here and some guy deliberately crossed and hit me. I couldn’t even stop,’ he’s heard telling the officers, before they received the second call.
Both men sustained ‘serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to local hospitals for treatment,’ Mentor Police said in a statement Thursday.
In both cases, the suspect was able to get away.
The second victim, however, was able to tell the dispatcher the car’s license plate. Cops quickly linked the vehicle to Leppelmeier.
A separate 911 caller who lives near Leppelmeier then tipped officers off.
‘Our neighbor was acting erratically and sped off and then my mother-in-law called me and said she heard on the scanner that someone ran over someone out in the Headlands and then he’s back in his driveway,’ she is heard saying in another 911 call.
SWAT officers breached the home after efforts to peacefully coerce the suspect were unsuccessful, cops said. The suspect was transported to a nearby hospital. He is facing one felony charge of vehicular assault and three counts of felonious assault and robbery
‘His name’s Michael Leppelmeier,’ the caller said after she was asked to identify the neighbor. She also confirmed to officers that his car was a white SUV.
A standoff ensued when SWAT officers eventually arrived at the suspect’s home to take him into custody.
Bodycam captured the standoff. ‘We need more people down here,’ one of the officers is heard saying after Leppelmeier refused his requests to exit.
The white SUV out front had sustained ‘fresh damage to the driver’s side’ and blood was visible on the vehicle’s console, officers noticed.
After about five minutes, the suspect came out from the front door to warn officers to not touch a motorcycle that was in the garage. He retreated back inside, cops said.
‘Come out here and talk to us,’ an officer is heard telling the suspect in a later section of the released bodycam footage.
Leppelmeier eventually emerges from the front door again to tell the officer, ‘You know you’re on illegal property. Leave,’ leading the officer to draw his gun, the footage shows. The officer is then heard telling the suspect not to approach.
Leppelmeier refuses, according to the footage. He’s seen approaching the officer before being hit with a stun gun, which had no effect.
At this point, Leppelmeier retreats back into the house and barricades the entrances.
Police spent the next several hours trying to negotiate Leppelmeier’s surrender and eventually deployed a drone that was damaged by the suspect, according to their statement.
Officers were only able to enter the residence after breaching several windows and doors and deploying chemical irritants inside, they said.
Leppelmeier was taken into custody at around 6.30pm, roughly eight hours after his alleged encounter with the first victim.
Leppelmeier was transported to Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights with non-life-threatening injuries, cops said.
The suspect has a hearing slated for Monday. He faces one count of aggravated vehicular assault and three counts of felonious assault and robbery.
The Daily Mail approached the Mentor Police Department for comment.
