Prankster killed cyclist by leaning out of moving car to shove her – then fell to his death
A prankster killed a 56-year-old cyclist by leaning out of a fast-moving car to shove her – then fell out of the vehicle and died by striking his head on a lamppost.
The unnamed killer fatally shoved Marie Weissman as she traveled down a bicycle lane in Las Vegas Sunday, sending her flying off her bike and killing her. She died despite wearing a helmet. Police say the momentum of the prankster’s surprise shove caused him to fall from the windowsill of the minivan he was a passenger in, and die from his injuries.
The van’s driver, 22-year-old Rodrigo Cruz, has been arrested and is charged with murder and failure to stop at the scene of an accident. Explaining how the prankster died, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Ray Spencer said: ‘The momentum of hitting the bicyclist caused (the minivan passenger) to fall out of the vehicle…
‘He traveled along the asphalt for about 150 feet, striking his head on a streetlight.’
Lt Spencer added: ‘Senseless is an understatement. You have a woman who was out riding her bicycle and they pull up next to her and strike her, causing her to die.
‘It’s an absolute senseless act. There’s no reason that I could tell you as to why it occurred other than complete stupidity.’
Moments before Weissman was fatally shoved, the prankster was seen leaning out of the van to try and push a couple walking along the street. He failed to do so.
Weissman’s grieving husband Lonny has since spoken out about his wife’s death, and said Michelle had taken up cycling as a means of staying fit during the coronavirus outbreak.
He added that he cannot come to terms with the senseless way she died.
Lonny told 8NewsNow: ‘What happened was a flat out horrendous and unnecessary tragedy that was 100 percent avoidable…
‘Something I could not imagine or dream up if I even took the hardest effort I possibly could.’ The grieving widower said his late wife was ‘a ray of sunshine.’
Cruz was on parole at the time of the deadly joyride, and has been denied bail ahead of his next court hearing.
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