69-year-old man punched, knocked off his bike on White Oak Bayou trail

“At that point, he started dancing around me in a boxing pose and said he was gonna kick my you know what,” Hearman Jacobs told KHOU 11.

HOUSTON — A 69-year-old Houston man says he was punched and robbed while riding his bike along the White Oak Hike and Bike Trail near Hogg Park.

Now, he’s calling for better safety measures to protect others who use the popular trail.

Herman Jacobs said his daily ride took a violent turn Monday morning when he encountered a jogger coming directly toward him on the wrong side of the trail.

“As I’m riding along, I see this guy about 50 yards ahead of me. He’s on my side of the trail, straight ahead of me,” Jacobs recalled. “So I start hollering at him, ‘You’re on the wrong side.’”

Jacobs said the jogger didn’t move. When they finally crossed paths, the man punched him in the face.

“He knocked me off my bike,” Jacobs said. “At that point, he started dancing around me in a boxing pose and said he was gonna kick my you know what.”

Jacobs said the attacker struck him again in the back of the head and then kicked him in the groin before grabbing his phone. The man later tossed the phone into the bayou and ran off.

“I didn’t want to fight him,” Jacobs said. “I’m too old to be fighting people.”

Jacobs says he is grateful the situation wasn’t worse. He now wants to see more security features along the trail.

“They could put things like 911 boxes, better lighting — just make it more visible,” he said.

Jacobs said he filed a police report with the Houston Police Department, but hasn’t heard any updates. 

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