A 35-year-old man has been arrested after his rented SUV was allegedly involved in up to eight hit-and-run crashes in three hours in Sydney, which left three cyclists injured.
NSW police have said the crashes involved “deliberate, dangerous and predatory driving”.
The Queensland-registered SUV was initially pulled over for speeding at Bar Point, 40km north of Sydney’s CBD, on Sunday morning and the driver had his licence suspended on the spot.
But less than an hour later, just after 9am, the grey Holden Equinox allegedly hit a cyclist on the Pacific highway at Lindfield, leaving the 48-year-old rider with abrasions to his hip and elbow.
Five minutes later, the same SUV allegedly hit another cyclist, resulting in the 55-year-old man suffering five fractured ribs and a fractured collarbone.
“Both times the driver allegedly left the scene without rendering assistance or providing details,” NSW police said on Monday.
Then, after 9.30am, the same vehicle was driving in the Eastern Distributor tunnel at Woolloomooloo when it allegedly hit a Mercedes-Benz from behind, causing the sedan to spin and block all three lanes.
Again “the SUV did not stop”, police alleged.
Minutes later, the SUV allegedly hit a Land Rover in Kensington.
A man driving a Subaru witnessed the crash and was taking down the SUV’s number plate when, it is alleged, the driver deliberately reversed towards him causing another crash.
At 10am, a 36-year-old man was cycling in Matraville when he was allegedly hit from behind by the SUV and knocked off his bike. He sustained cuts to his left elbow and back, police said.
Subsequently a woman’s Subaru was allegedly struck by the SUV at Glebe, before another woman driving a Subaru was allegedly struck at Lane Cove about 11.15am.
“She has told police an Equinox SUV drove beside her and deliberately swerved into her lane and hit her before leaving the scene.”
NSW police said that after an extensive search a 35-year-old man was arrested at a service station in Penrith about 8am on Monday.
A police spokeswoman told Guardian Australia he was undergoing a mental health assessment in hospital and was expected to be charged upon release.
Superintendent Jenny Scholz said it appeared there had been “eight deliberate acts and incidents” in relation to using a “motor vehicle potentially as a weapon”.
“This is not negligent driving,” she told reporters on Monday. “This is deliberate, dangerous and predatory driving.”
