While investigators continued their search for the driver who hit 53-year-old Roman Alvarez, officials released the recorded 911 calls that describe the scene just before 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Surveillance video shows Alvarez cycling down Old Hickory Blvd around 4:45 a.m. when a pick up truck speeds by. Alvarez and his bicycle are hit and dragged several yards before he rolls to a stop.
The truck keeps going like nothing happened. Nearly four minutes pass before someone comes to his aide.
"911 what's the address of your emergency? 'Uh, I'm on Long Hollow Pike, right at the border of Lakeview City. There's a guy that was hit on a bicycle. He's lying on the ground. I don't think he's alive,'" the caller said.
Alvarez suffered severe injuries, at one point the caller panics when an 18-wheeler passes. "No no no stop. Holy (expletive! Holy (expletive)! Awe man, there's a big semi truck that almost hit him. I stopped him, oh my God."
As the caller was on the phone with emergency dispatch Alvarez begins to regain consciousness. "He's alive, he's breathing. 'Ok, we want to get him help,'"
Alvarez was following all the biking rules, even riding on the right side of the road, despite that he's now hospitalized, in serious condition.
"I'm sending a paramedic, they're on the way. Stay on the line I'm going to tell you exactly what to do next. Do not splint any injuries and do not move him unless he's in danger. 'Yeah, we're not moving him.'"
