SARASOTA, Fla. — The driver seen hitting a motorcyclist with his car and tossing him to the curb is under arrest.
The alleged driver, identified as 30-year-old Magdiel Medrano-Bonilla, was seen on video taken by a witness veering his car into Darin Hendrickson on his motorcycle, causing him to fall into the curb.
"I thought I was dead," Hendrickson previously told 10News.
Sarasota Sheriff Tom Knight said the 'most concerning' aspect of the incident is that Medrano-Bonilla is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who entered the country illegally in 2014.
Knight said he was detained at the Texas border and requested asylum before being released.
"While he has no criminal history here in Sarasota County, Mr. Bonilla is, what I believe, a primary example of the kind of individual who should not belong here in Sarasota County," Knight said.
The road-rage incident happened around 5 p.m. Saturday, April 7, near the intersection of South Beneva Road and Webber Street.
Hendrickson said he was brake-checked by the driver and didn't understand why he did that. He claims Medrano-Bonilla then began to swerve before throwing some loose change at him; Hendrickson said he wanted to pass and yelled at him, even hitting the passenger-side window.
But he claims he never actually hit the vehicle.
Hendrickson is recovering from a fractured rib, with staples in his knee.
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