Man Allegedly Beats up Biker Who Flipped Him Off

A pickup driver battered a bicyclist for flipping him off after the truck cut off the bike on a rural road in northwest Indiana, the Post-Tribune is reporting.

The near-miss occurred about 3 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of County Roads 250W and 750S, about halfway between Kouts and Hebron in southern Porter County. A witness told police the westbound truck cut off the southbound bicyclist.

The driver of the truck, 59-year-old Rudey Estes of rural Hebron, told police he thought he had time to make it through the intersection.

But when he saw the 63-year-old Kouts man on the bicycle make the obscene gesture, Estes stopped his truck in the road and got out, police said.

The man got off his bicycle, keeping it between Estes and himself, but Estes grabbed the bicycle and threw it at the victim. He then punched him in the face before the two started fighting on the ground, according to the police report.

Estes said he was holding the other man to the ground because he was “acting all crazy,” he told police. Highway workers separated the two.

Both men received minor facial injuries, but Estes was the only one with injuries on his knuckles, police said. He was arrested for misdemeanor battery.