Cyclist pinned in Berkeley crash, left with major leg injury

A driver struck a cyclist in Berkeley on Sunday morning, pinning him against a parked car and leaving him with what was described at the scene as a severed leg.

A Berkeley police officer "was quick to apply" a tourniquet and a bystander with medical training also jumped in to help with emergency treatment at the scene, police said.

The incident took place just before 10:50 a.m. on San Pablo Avenue south of Dwight Way, Berkeley police said in response to a Scanner inquiry.

The driver, who had been southbound on San Pablo, crashed into a row of parked cars, pinning the cyclist in place, BPD said.

There was no information about what may have caused the crash, police said, citing the ongoing investigation. The driver remained at the scene.

In an official statement, Berkeley police said the cyclist sustained a "major leg injury" in the collision.

In broadcasts from the scene reviewed by The Berkeley Scanner, the incident was classified as an extrication.

"The bicyclist's leg is caught under the vehicle," a dispatcher said, assigning a full fire response to the call.

Police had applied a tourniquet to the cyclist within 2 minutes of being dispatched, according to emergency radio clips.

The officer who applied the tourniquet described the leg as "severed."

"We have a vehicle into a parked vehicle with a bicyclist in between," responding firefighters said. "His leg is caught in between the two vehicles."

Read more about traffic safety in Berkeley.

Over the radio, first responders later said they had been "able to disentangle him from his bicycle."

The Berkeley Fire Department rushed the cyclist "Code 3" (with lights and sirens) to Highland Hospital just before 11 a.m., according to radio traffic.

Police said the driver was cooperative and had not been arrested as of Sunday afternoon.

BPD's traffic unit will now investigate the case.

The ages and cities of residence of the cyclist and driver were unavailable as of publication time, police said.