Posted March 24, 2005 Email this page

Driver charged with hitting motorcyclist on purpose

Police say a 19-year-old car driver intentionally ran into a father and young son riding a motorcycle.

Police arrested Jacob Hyneman, of Kent, Washington, in the incident. Officials said Hyneman was driving in Lakewood, Washington, when he got into an argument with his girlfriend, who was a passenger in the car. The girlfriend allegedly pointed at a motorcycle ridden by Pat Doyle and his 8-year-old son, Alex, and made some comment about her ex-boyfriend, and wondered if that were him on the bike.

Hyneman allegedly became enraged, ran a red light and intentionally hit the motorcycle, then sped off. Doyle and his son apparently weren't seriously hurt, although Pat reportedly doesn't remember anything about the crash.

The case remained unsolved for several days until the girlfriend reported the incident to police. Hyneman was charged with vehicular assault and failure to stay at the scene of an injury accident.

The AMA will be following this case as part of our Justice for All program, which hopes to get new laws passed in all 50 states to get appropriate penalties for those who kill or injure others on the road, whether the victim is a motorcyclist, bicyclist, pedestrian, or another. The program also seeks to include motorcyclist-awareness instruction in each state's driver-education program. Learn more about the Justice for All campaign here.