Jury finds man guilty after road rage caught on cyclist's helmet cam

LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC (WIS) - A Lexington County jury took less than 15 minutes to convict a man on two charges stemming from a road rage incident caught on a cyclist's helmet camera in July.

53-year-old Donald Craig Frick will have to pay almost $800.00 in fines after being found guilty Thursday morning of harassing a bicyclist and not maintaining a safe distance from a bicyclist.

PHOTO GALLERY

Click here to view a gallery of photos from court and images from Wellisley's helmet camera

The reason the July 1 incident even made it into a courtroom is because cyclist Bartholomew James Wellisley had a camera attached to his helmet that day. The video shows a minivan driving very close and possibly bumping into him on St. Peters Church Rd. near Dreher Island Rd. and then speeding away.

Wellisley can be heard in the video arguing with Frick and yelling out the license plate of the vehicle to himself so he could record the information. After the bump, Wellisley pulled his bike over and called 911.

Lexington County deputies eventually tracked down the van at Frick's Irmo home and charged him.

In court Thursday, Frick said that Wellisley actually sparked the incident by giving him the finger and throwing a bottle at his minivan. Frick said all he did was pull up close to Wellisley to give him a few choice words and that the bump seen on camera is actually the cyclist hitting the van with his arm.

The jury didn't buy it and found Frick guilty on both charges.

Magistrate Rebecca Adams fined Frick $786.25 and suspended a 30 day jail sentence. Frick's only prior moving violation was a DUI charge in 1984.