DIVERGING STORIES

Furrer disputes Murdick’s version. He said he was driving his red 1991 Mercedes 300SL convertible with the top down when the cyclist ran a stop sign and whipped around a corner. He said he yelled at the cyclist that he needed to stop at the sign, and the cyclist started shouting at him, using profanities.

“He caught me off guard, frankly,” Furrer said. “Because I would have expected him to stop. He came around the corner at a pretty good clip on some fancy bike. Frankly, it’s my mistake, I shouldn’t have engaged him and I tell everybody I know, never engage them.”

Furrer said Murdick grabbed onto his car during the incident, which Murdick denies. Furrer said he didn’t accelerate or swerve, but saw Murdick tumble from his bike. Furrer said he kept going, but turned around at the first opportunity to go back to check on him.

Murdick said that not only did he stop at the stop sign on Old Gravois Road, but did so long enough to unclip his shoes from the bike’s pedals. Murdick also said he would have never grabbed the mayor’s car, adding that it would have made no sense to pit a 17-pound bike against a 3,000-pound vehicle.

Furrer’s disputes Murdick’s claims but stopped short of calling him a liar.