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Teen Cyclist Hit By Car At Wicker Park's Damen, Milwaukee, North Hub

By Alisa Hauser | September 30, 2016 11:57am | Updated on September 30, 2016 11:58am

WICKER PARK — A teenage cyclist was hit by a car Friday morning while riding through the busy Damen, Milwaukee and North avenues intersection in Wicker Park, police and witnesses said.

The crash, between a 15-year-old cyclist and the driver of a 2002 Nissan Sentra, happened around 7:35 a.m. Friday, according to Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.

Pacheco said that the cyclist was hit by the car, driven by a 24-year-old man headed north on Damen Avenue.

The teen was taken to St. Mary Hospital, where he was said to be stable. The driver has not been issued any tickets at this time, Pacheco said.

Caitlin L., a barista at Starbucks, which overlooks the bustling intersection, said she did not see the crash but she saw the aftermath.

"It happened right in middle of the intersection. Everything just kind of stopped," she said.

"At first [the cyclist] was not moving, but he started to move, so that was good. It was really scary. Everyone was worried and not sure if he was OK," she said.

Gina Moskowitz was walking to the CTA Blue Line Damen "L" stop at 1558 N. Damen Ave. just as fire trucks and an ambulance arrived.

"I saw a car in the intersection, some commotion and a guy on his cellphone. As I got closer, I saw a bike on the sidewalk and a male laying in the middle of the street, all sprawled out, not moving at all," Moskowitz said.

She said the cyclist did not appear to have been wearing a helmet, and there were two women sitting in the street next to him rubbing his arm.

"The fire truck pulled up first and assessed the scene and took off his backpack. The ambulance pulled up, and that's when I left," Moskowitz said.

The Milwaukee, Damen and North avenues intersection is a "complex" intersection and among the city's top sites for bike and pedestrian crashes, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. 

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