Wild video shows cyclists hit, run over by suspected drunk driver near DFW Airport
IRVING, Texas - A drunk driving suspect slammed into two cyclists on a group ride at DFW Airport, and it was all caught on camera.
Some may find the video difficult to watch.
A man accused of driving drunk when he hit two bicyclists and ran one over had half a dozen empty beers in his car, according to police.
The video taken from the rear of another cyclist shows the man and woman being hit by the car before the man falls down and is run over.
Now, 31-year-old Benjamin Hylander is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated.
The two cyclists are both out of the hospital but have a lot of healing to do mentally and physically.
They were part of a group of cyclists riding their bikes near DFW Airport on Monday when a car slammed into them from behind and kept going.
Tom Geppert is an avid cyclist. The 69-year-old retired physician went for a ride with a group of cyclists around 6 p.m. Monday when he nearly died.
The group was looping DFW Airport, a popular circuit for group rides.
"All of a sudden, something pushes me from behind," Geppert recalled. "Then I could feel myself falling from the right, and then that's pretty much the last thing I remember."
What Geppert didn't know is that he and another cyclist were victims of a hit-and-run captured on video by a cyclist ahead of them.
The group was headed east in the right lane of Airfield Drive near Freeport Parkway when the white Subaru drove into them without appearing to slow down, knocking one rider off her bike and then running over Geppert before driving off.
"I was unconscious for a number of minutes," he said. "I guess some people thought I wasn't breathing."
Geppert said the SUV ran over his thigh. The video shows his helmet hitting the pavement. He credits his bike with saving him.
"Just so lucky it happened to be my thigh, and I think the bike kind of elevated the car a little bit," he said.
Geppert was taken to the hospital, where doctors did a CT scan of his brain. He says he suffered a concussion.
"I don't feel like 100%. Injury to this hamstring, fractured rib on the backside here," he said.
Geppert doesn't recall getting run over. He watched the video and is amazed he's still alive.
The other injured rider was bandaged up by EMS at the scene.
Other cyclists followed the driver to the parking lot of a nearby convenience store. They snapped a photo of him being arrested by DFW Airport Police.
According to the arrest report, Benjamin Hylander tried to rush toward EMS crews who were treating Geppert. Police had to pull him back.
Hylander is identified in the report as an American Airlines cargo worker. According to the arrest affidavit, he admitted to officers to drinking beer before the crash.
Investigators recovered six empty cans of Voodoo Ranger Juice Force from a backpack in the SUV and two cans of Coors Light police found in grass near Hylander's vehicle. Police say he failed a field sobriety and breathalyzer test.
Geppert says he's grateful he can still walk.
"Just overall amazingly lucky that I'm still alive," he said.
Hylander is charged with two counts of intoxication assault with a vehicle and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Geppert says despite the incident, he does plan to ride again. He's grateful to the other cyclists who tended to him and followed Hylander.