Charges against Carolyn Backus were dropped after it was determined that she was riding a non-motorized bicycle and stayed at the scene for 45 minutes. She turned herself in after initial allegations claimed she fled the crash that left an electric unicycle rider critically injured. The charges by the NYPD only apply to motor vehicles. Initial reports about the collision were contradictory, with some claiming the unicyclist was responsible. A deleted Reddit post also described the unicyclist as traveling fast without a helmet.
"Carolyn Backus was operating a non-motorized and non-electric bicycle, and the charge only applies to those operating motor vehicles," Bragg spokeswoman M'Niyah Lynn told Streetsblog.
Cops initially provided few details about how the collision actually occurred. A story in the Daily News somewhat contradictorily said both that the unicyclist "collided with" Backus and that she had "critically hurt" him.
"I heard this horrific zooming noise in my ear and I was suddenly thrown backwards off my bike," the Reddit user, whose account has also since been deleted, wrote on Monday night.
A since-deleted - and still unverified - post on Reddit from the night of the crash described a similar collision in which the electric unicycle rider was responsible, not the cyclist.
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