Bicyclist kidnaps driver after he’s hit and demands ‘relationship,’ Florida cops say

A bicyclist kidnapped a female driver accused of hitting him, then he exposed his identity by reporting her when she didn’t come back to make a “payment” he sought, authorities in Florida said.

The woman, a pharmacy employee, was doing deliveries in a company car when she encountered a bicyclist in a crosswalk on Jan. 30, the Lake City Police Department said in a Feb. 4 news release.

The driver said she and the bicyclist, later identified as 67-year-old Danny Phelps, each motioned for the other one to go, but they both proceeded forward and she hit him, police said in an arrest affidavit filed in Columbia County.

The woman said she got out of her car and was about to call for help when Phelps is accused of slapping her phone out of her hand and telling her not to call anyone.

Then the woman said Phelps told her to give him a ride and brandished an open pocketknife as he got in the passenger side, according to police. His bike was put in the back of the company car.

He told police the woman said no one else was allowed in the company car, but he made her drive him home because his bike tire was damaged, the affidavit says.

Phelps told police that he instructed the woman to come back to his home later to “work out something for payment” and said he wanted a “relationship,” but she said she was engaged, police wrote in the affidavit.

After she dropped him off, the woman told her employers about the incident, and they told her to come back to the store so they could report it to law enforcement.

When she didn’t return to Phelps’ home, police said he reported the collision to the pharmacy and then to police, leading to his own arrest on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and witness tampering.

McClatchy News reached out to his attorney for comment Feb. 4 but did not immediately receive a response.

Lake City is about a 60-mile drive west from Jacksonville.