Witnesses: Motorist intentionally hit bicyclist in Piedmont Heights, left scene (Update)

Be on the lookout for a red sports utility vehicle with what appears to be new front-end damage.

Atlanta Police say such a vehicle matches the description of a car involved in a hit-and-run early last night in Morningside that’s left a bicyclist in the hospital with serious injuries.

According to the APD, a motorist struck and injured a 50-year-old bicyclist on Flagler Avenue before leaving the scene. Upon arrival, officers found the victim lying on the ground and in need of immediate medical treatment. Acquaintances tell CL that the man who was struck was Gregory Thomas Germani, who created the local historical site Atlanta Time Machine. (The report lists the victim as Gregory Thomas German.) He was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Witnesses tell the officer that Germani was riding his bicycle on Montgomery Ferry Road when he was “almost struck by a red SUV type vehicle turning from Flagler onto Montgomery Ferry Road.” The witnesses say the victim approached the SUV’s driver and “a verbal dispute followed.”

After that interaction, “the victim was seen operating his bicycle down Flagler Ave at a high rate of speed (as if attempting to run away from the red SUV type vehicle) while the red SUV type vehicle was seen following behind the bicycle at a high rate of speed (as if trying to chase the bicycle).”

No witnesses saw the impact, the police report says, but “several moments later they found the victim laying under a silver SUV parked along the curb on the 1800 block of Flagler Avenue and the described red SUV type vehicle speeding away from the scene, taking a right onto Rock Springs Rd. towards Piedmont Ave.” An APD spokesman told WSB-TV that it appeared Germani was dragged 50 feet by the SUV, which might look similar to a Dodge Nitro, before he ended up wedged under a parked vehicle.

Few details about the vehicle and motorist are known, but several witnesses described the driver of the SUV as a black male, police say.

As of 6:50 p.m. last night, the responding officer had learned from a fellow officer that “the victim had stable vitals but serious head trauma/injuries and was rushed to surgery.”

If you have any information, contact the APD.

UPDATE, 1:28 p.m. The APD report listed the victim as “Gregory Thomas German.” Officers were unable to offer any more information. However, Germani’s ex-wife and another source have confirmed to CL that he was involved in the accident. We’ve altered the post.