WILMINGTON — The Wilmington Police Department has charged a protestor with a ‘failure to register a bicycle’ and impeding traffic after his bike was hit by a Land Rover SUV departing the city’s downtown parking garage on Market Street earlier this month.
The protestor, 27-year-old Jonathan Robertie, had originally filed a hit-and-run report with the department after the July 2 incident, which occurred as the vehicle was pulling onto Market Street.
“Robertie reported that his bicycle had been hit by the Range Rover in this video. However, when officials viewed the video they were able to determine that Robertie and other protesters were blocking traffic,” according to WPD spokesperson Linda Thompson.
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Although Thompson couldn’t be reached on Thursday afternoon, another department spokesperson, Jessica Williams, said “a lot of people don’t know you’re supposed to register your bicycle within city limits.”
Williams added that WPD is “talking about a campaign to encourage people to register their bicycles.”
She said there’s a “hangup with the front desk” on whether to require people to register online or in-person, due to ongoing Covid-19 social distance requirements. She said a hit-and-run investigator brought the charges against Robertie.
No injuries were reported and no charges were filed against the driver of the Land Rover, according to police.
The announcement came a day after the department published a list of all 12 protestors it has either cited or arrested since protests began in the city on May 31. Wednesday’s press release was in response to four protestors who were issued citations for blocking traffic near City Hall on Tuesday night.
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