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Charges filed against teen who a witness says hurt six bicyclists while trying to 'roll coal'

Houston area bicycle crash
Posted at 1:38 PM, Nov 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-09 13:38:16-05

District attorneys in Waller County, Texas, filed six charges on Monday against a 16-year-old in connection with a September car crash in the Houston area that injured six bicyclists.

The office for Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said in a Facebook post that it had filed six charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against the 16-year-old boy who was driving at the time of the accident.

Mathis' office said that the teen turned himself in Monday and will be held in custody until further orders from the juvenile court.

The Houston Chronicle, KTRK-TV and KPRC-TV report that six cyclists were hurt in a Sept. 25 crash just northwest of Houston, Texas. Four of the cyclists had to be hospitalized, two of whom had to be airlifted because of the severity of their injuries.

Cyclist Chase Ferrell says he was riding behind the group of six cyclists who were injured in the crash. He's told multiple media outlets that the teenaged suspect caused the crash while trying to "roll coal," or blow exhaust on cyclists as a means of intimidation.

"The kid on the scene was asking us if we thought he was going to jail," Ferrell told KTRK. "I said, 'Yeah. You messed up.' He was clearly sorry. Even in his mind, his initial reaction was he thought he was going to jail."

Local media outlets report that the teen driver was allowed to leave the scene following the crash. The case prompted outrage in Houston's cycling community.

In its Facebook post on Monday, Mathis' office thanked the public for their patience in filing charges.

"We very much appreciate the patience of the victims and their attorneys as we have attempted to reconstruct the events, and to assess and gather the evidence that was not obtained that day," the District Attorney of Waller County's Facebook update read.