HOUSTON – One local cyclist is sharing a word of caution after being attacked by two men in daylight Thursday night.
Brett Gehring said he was riding his bicycle down the bike trail along Buffalo Bayou headed south towards the Elysian Street Bridge near 255 when he was brutally attacked by two strangers.
“It’s one of those trails where you only have one in and one out so there’s nowhere to go,” Brett Gehring said.
It happened around 6 p.m. Gehring said two men in their late teens or early twenties were near the trail.
“These kids were hanging out right behind the backside of Clayton Homes. So, there is a new section of a trail they just completed over there,” Gehring said. “These kids were messing with a shopping cart.”
Gehring said he was trying to be courteous and tried to bike around the two young men. Instead, he said they approached him.
“They pushed me directly off of my bike into the fence, and then they beat me several times in the face,” Gehring said. “This side of my face is swollen because they punched me 20-something times. They cut my ear ... It was bleeding down the side of my face.”
He said the two men also took his bicycle but continued to beat him.
“They wouldn’t let go unless they got my phone,” Gehring said. “I threw it over a fence.”
After realizing he had no wallet, the thieves left, Gehring said. Now, he said he is determined to spread word of caution to those using the trail.
“Imagine in an area like this ... and the safety of women and children,” Gehring said. “I’ve seen them on those bike trails ... I would hate for anyone to go through this.”
Gehring filed a report with Harris Count Constable Precinct 6. He said that attacks along the trail in that area have increased.
“There were several other instances as of recently,” Gehring said.
He said he hopes the culprits are caught so what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“I’m just trying to make people aware that this trail needs some oversight on the design aspect of it, but also on the patrolling aspect,” Gehring said.