Bicyclist

By Peter Mandel It's a strange truth of contemporary life that some among us are immune to accidents. You may have glimpsed these youthful superheroes in the dark: bicyclists riding at night without reflectors, clad in black from helmetless head to toe; pedestrians crossing hectic corners who suddenly, before a captive audience of cars, slow down. You say that immortality has yet to be achieved? I say you're wrong. It happens the second one stops making a fuss. Imagining ourselves to be fairly fragile, we used to worry a lot about life's hidden slick spots, crevices, and holes.

A father who worked three jobs - including one as a part-time traffic reporter on KYW-1060 - was killed Saturday morning in Olney by a butcher-knife-wielding bicyclist, according to police and his family. His attacker was then shot and killed by police after three Taser blasts failed to subdue him, said Lt. Ray Evers, police spokesman. Charles Fricker, 52, who worked as an insurance salesman, disc jockey and as a part-time traffic reporter with KYW under the pseudonym Chuck Williams, was getting out of his car to visit insurance clients on 3rd Street near Somerville Avenue about 9:50 a.m. when he was approached by a man on a bicycle, according to police and his daughter, 26-year-old Amy Fricker.

A rower and a bicyclist jumped into the Schuylkill on Thursday morning and rescued two young men whose car had run into the river near Boathouse Row and sunk. "We can't swim! We can't swim!" rower Christopher DeFelice, 32, said he had heard one of the men shout. Neither man was seriously injured, but medics took them to a hospital to be examined, police said. DeFelice, a Web developer who lives in Fairmount, said he had finished his regular morning row about 9 and was about 10 yards offshore when he heard a big pop and tires screeching.

A Havertown man was charged with vehicular manslaughter Thursday night after he struck and killed a Lansdowne bicyclist while driving drunk in Philadelphia, police said. Paul Jones, 53, of Wales Road, was arrested shortly after 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Moments after he hit the cyclist, he crashed his black Ford pickup into a minivan with two women and a child inside, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael J. Chitwood said. The minivan occupants were not hurt, he said. Police said Randall Bratu, 62, of Lacrosse Street, Lansdowne, was bicycling home in the 6400 block of Baltimore Avenue when Jones struck him from behind shortly before 10:30 p.m. Bratu was thrown at least 30 yards into the air, Chitwood said, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A woman was shot several times and killed early Tuesday while riding her bicycle on a downtown street in Chester City, police said. The victim, described as a Chester resident in her 20s, was still astride her bicycle when officers responding to a report of gunfire found her at Eighth and Sproul Streets about 2:25 a.m., police said. The woman had been shot more than five times in the torso, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:32 a.m. Police have identified "a person of interest" in the shootings, Deputy Chief Darren Alston said Tuesday.

A 16-year-old boy was killed this afternoon in Southwest Philadelphia when he was struck by a privately-owned garbage truck as he was riding his bicycle, police said. The boy, who has not been named by police, was riding southbound on 58th Street near Elmwood St. About 3:40 p.m. a truck, owned by McCusker and Osborne, hit him, police said. The accident is under investigation. Charges have not been filed against the truck driver, police said. Contact staff writer Sam Wood at 215-854-2796 or samwood@phillynews.

RE SALEEM Safdar's Sept. 20 letter, "I'm a Muslim & as American as You Are" : Saleem, there is more to being American than just being born here. The freedom that we enjoy and that still lures so many to our shores was bought and paid for by the blood and sweat of all who came before us. They put America first - above their heritage, above their religion and even above their lives. You say you witnessed firsthand the attack on 9/11 - seeing with your own eyes innocent victims leaping to their death.

Anne Spiegelman didn't know the Haverford College professor who was killed by a car in July as he was cycling to work along West Chester Pike near the entrance of the Blue Route in Marple Township, Delaware County. But when another cyclist told her about Russell Garrett's death, it struck a chord with her. "It could have been me," said Spiegelman, 48, of Broomall. Spiegelman, an attorney with the Justice Department, estimated that she has been "run up on by cars easily 50 times" as she commuted to her job in Center City along the same route.

A bicyclist shot and killed in West Philadelphia Thursday morning was identified Friday as Rasul Gresham, 32, of the 500 block of South 59th Street. Gresham was shot multiple times on the 5900 block of Pine Street, just blocks from where he lived. Police are looking for two juveniles who raced away from the scene on bicycles. - Inquirer Staff

A 32-year-old man riding a bicycle was shot and killed Thursday morning in West Philadelphia, police said. Police were looking for two youths who sped away on mountain bikes after the 11 a.m. shooting on the 5900 block of Pine Street. The victim, who had been shot multiple times and at least once in the head, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The fleeing youths were last seen pedaling east on Pine before turning north on 56th Street, police said. - Inquirer Staff