Texas teen who hit 6 cyclists with his truck faces criminal charges, authorities say

A 16-year-old from Texas was charged with six counts after hitting six cyclists with his pickup truck while trying to blow exhaust smoke in late September, authorities said Monday.

In a statement, the Waller County Prosecutor's Office said the teen was charged with six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — one charge for each bicyclist injured on Sept. 25. The juvenile was not arrested when police arrived. at the scene, but the Waller Police Department told USA TODAY in September that authorities were investigating.

“Over the past six weeks, this office has assigned its own investigators to search for evidence and interview victims and witnesses,” the prosecutor’s statement said. “Earlier today, the juvenile voluntarily surrendered and was arrested by officials of the Department of Juvenile Justice where he will be held in custody until further orders from the Juvenile Court.”

The incident occurred near Waller, Texas, as the cyclists were training for IRONMAN Texas, a long-distance triathlon, and were riding 75 miles when a black diesel truck stopped near them, said Chase Ferrell, a cyclist in the group. FOX 26.

Ferrell said the truck slowed down, then accelerated to blow exhaust smoke at the cyclists. When the driver tried to do the same thing to the cyclists in front of Ferrell, he hit them. Four of the six cyclists were taken to hospital, two of them by helicopter, according to FOX 26.

Some criticized and questioned why it took so long for the charges to be filed and why the teen was not immediately arrested. Last month, the police chief of the Waller Police Department directly responded to the criticism in a Facebook post on the department's page.

Related: 16-year-old in van tried to blow exhaust smoke at cyclists, then hit them, witness says

“It has been stated that our agency mishandled the initial accident scene investigation. This is true,” Police Chief Bill Llewellyn wrote. The shortcomings in the handling of the case were “due to a lack of knowledge on our part”, Llewellyn's post added.

The chief also defended his police force and the officer who responded to the scene, writing that “his assistance was greatly appreciated” and “instrumental” in documenting the information.

District Attorney Elton Mathis said his office is investigating whether there was “criminal interference” between police and the driver's parents because they are a prominent family that owns several businesses in the region, the Washington Post reported.

Llewellyn denied that the police department was influenced by “any member of the city administration” and wrote that he never met with any of the parties involved in the accident.

Contributor: Asha Gilbert, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas teen charged with 6 counts after plowing into cyclists