14th St Bridge incident

[gibby]

A heads up about an individual who may have some mental health issues. About 815am today crossing the 14th St Bridge, I approached a heavyset African-American man carrying two duffel type bags. He was taking up almost the entire walkway and didn't look like the typical commuter so I approached slowly giving multiple warnings. He never moved and seemed to be talking to himself. I finally decided to squeeze by and pass and was given a wack to the face as I did.

Nothing major. More of a wtf moment than anything else but I can see if it were a less-seasoned cyclist it could have been dangerous.
Unfortunately the usual park police were not at the base of the bridge.

I haven't seen him before, so hopefully it's a one off and he won't be making regular crossings.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Maybe he'd just been forced to take the path detour and climb the stairs and thought you were with NPS?

[rcannon100]

I did note an unusual NPS police presence passing through at about 9.10 a

[Tania]

What exactly was it about this guy doing that was illegal and would make you want to notify the police? He's walking across a bridge on a pedestrian path - is that illegal? There are plenty of times where I can't pass people because of one thing or another so I wait. According to what you wrote, he was just minding his own business and going from point a to point b.

[gibby]

Not that he did anything illegal, but he may have been a danger to other cyclists, pedestrians, joggers if he did have some mental illness. Not moving when he knows someone is behind him and then wacking me in the face when I pass is rather aggressive and could have been more violent depending on his mood.

I wasn't about to stop and have a chat to determine that and would have simply alerted police that there is someone on the bridge who may be aggressively violent.
Maybe he was just one pissed off dude---either way, it was not a good situation.

[DCAKen]

What exactly was it about this guy doing that was illegal and would make you want to notify the police? He's walking across a bridge on a pedestrian path - is that illegal? There are plenty of times where I can't pass people because of one thing or another so I wait. According to what you wrote, he was just minding his own business and going from point a to point b.

However, the 14th Street Bridge crossing is wide enough where two people can pass safely. And minding his own business does not cover wacking someone in the face.

[Tania]

However, the 14th Street Bridge crossing is wide enough where two people can pass safely. And minding his own business does not cover wacking someone in the face.

You're right, I missed that part in the OP.