Cyclist hit by car outside the View

A car struck an unidentified cyclist yesterday afternoon at the intersection of Route 1 and Navajo Street outside the University View apartment complex, Prince George's County Police said.

The accident occurred just after 4 p.m., and the cyclist was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, county police spokesman Cpl. Evan Baxter said.

Baxter could not confirm if the cyclist was a student and did not disclose what hospital he was taken to.

The incident is still under investigation, and Baxter said no other information was available yesterday evening.

Junior criminology and criminal justice major Laura Cunningham said she called 911 after the incident took place. Cunningham, a View resident, said she was standing in the complex's garage when she saw a car facing diagonally in front of McDonalds and a man lying in the street.

Caitlin Zentgraf, a junior journalism major, was with Cunningham when she called 911.

"We were at the third level of the View garage, and we were looking out to Route 1 and we saw a car with [its] blinkers on," Zentgraf said. "At first it looked like his bumper was on the road, but it was actually a man and his bicycle."

Cunningham added that she saw the cyclist moving his arm before Emergency Medical Technicians placed him on a stretcher and brought him to the hospital.

Both Cunningham and Zentgraf said two ambulances and a fire truck responded immediately, and one police cruiser came shortly after.

"It was scary because there wasn't anyone there at first," Cunningham said. "We must have just missed it because we were chatting and then we turned around, and we saw a man in the road with his bike."

"It just makes you think that anything could happen, and you just really have to be aware," Zentgraf added.

egan@umdbk.com