A bicyclist got into an argument with a motorist over the weekend. Then the altercation took a dangerous turn, police said.
The encounter escalated into a road-rage incident when the driver deliberately backed his car into the cyclist, striking him at Alpine Avenue and West Lane, authorities said.
The 75-year-old driver, Nicholas Isaak, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon — his car. The 32-year-old bicyclist, whose name was not disclosed by police, was taken to a hospital. Authorities said his injuries were not life-threatening.
The attack, which occurred around 2 p.m. Sunday, underscores how Stockton remains a less-than-ideal city for riding a bike.
Stocktonia reported last year that a survey of accident data by Consumer Affairs, a unit of the Journal of Consumer Research, ranked Stockton last when it came to bike safety. It was based on data that found 20% of traffic fatalities in 2023 involved cyclists. By comparison, bicyclists make up only 2.9% of traffic deaths nationwide.
Police said at the time that the city has made steady progress in reducing the cyclist death rate.
Still, the deaths continue.
A bicyclist and two dogs were killed in a hit-and-run crash at 10:18 a.m. Saturday on Eight Mile Road, east of Interstate 5. The California Highway Patrol’s Stockton office said a silver or light gray Ford Explorer dating from 2011 to 2015 was involved in the collision.
The CHP is asking for the public’s help in finding the vehicle, which they say is expected to have major front-end damage.
Authorities did not immediately release the name or age of the person killed in the crash.
Such fatalities are among the reasons Stockton ranks so far down the list in a new nationwide survey of bicycle networks.
People for Bikes’ 2026 city ratings measure the quality of biking in more than 3,000 U.S. cities. Stockton ranks 1,560.
The city took a big drop between 2022 and 2023 but has slowly improved since — to the point it is now nearly on par with San Jose, but far below bike-friendly locales like Milwaukee or Portland, Oregon.