'Why were you texting?': Video shows police officer driving into stopped bicyclist

Joel Shannon | USA TODAY

A collision between a bicyclist and a Missouri police officer has prompted an investigation as video appearing to show the crash has been viewed over a million times.

A video titled "Cop Distracted by Phone Hits Me Head On" was posted to YouTube Thursday and has since been widely circulated on social media. It shows a bicyclist stopped at an intersection being struck by a police SUV labeled "Peculiar, MO" as the vehicle makes a left turn.

The footage was shot from the bicyclist's point-of-view.

"Why the (expletive) were you looking at your phone, officer?" the bicyclist asks immediately after the collision. "Why were you texting?" he asks later.

The video goes on to show the officer acknowledging he was using his phone but denying that he was texting.

"It was my bad ... I wasn't paying attention," the officer says.

The video ends with a voiceover from the bicyclist, saying he was sore but not seriously injured. He said the bike was "most likely toast."

A Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report says a crash occurred on Thursday in Peculiar involving Charles Wallace, driving an SUV, and Joseph Fasanello, a bicyclist.

KCTV-5 has identified Wallace as the officer shown in the video and Fasanello as the bicyclist. In an interview, Fasanello told the TV station that the officer was an "irresponsible moron."

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The station reports Wallace has been suspended with pay while the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigates the incident.

Among the contributing factors in the crash: Fasanello had pulled up past the stop sign and the intersection itself was narrow, Collin Stosberg, of the Missouri Highway Patrol, told KMBC 9.

The station reports in a Facebook post that Highway Patrol has confirmed distraction was a contributing factor in the incident.