Video appears to show school leader hitting cyclist with his car, leaving scene

A Tennessee private school leader faces hit-and-run charges after allegedly running into a cyclist on National Park Service parkway Saturday morning. Video from a camera mounted on another cyclist’s helmet shows a black SUV knocking over a cyclist and speeding away.

U.S. Park Rangers and Williamson County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Marshall Grant Neely III, 58, Saturday evening, according to The Tennessean.

Neely, a past dean of students at University School of Nashville, was reportedly charged with several crimes, including felony reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident.

Neely was identified as the driver of a black Volvo SUV shown in a video sticking a cyclist on the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Nashville newspaper reported.

The 444-mile scenic parkway connects points in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. A park ranger said bicycles are allowed to use the full lane of the parkway in Mississippi and Tennessee.

An arrest affidavit signed Sunday stated that Neely claimed a man and woman were standing in the roadway and threw a bicycle at his vehicle.

A GoPro video taken by a riding partner, however, shows a black SUV striking the cyclist while the two are riding side-by-side.

Neely later acknowledged what he told police did not match what is shown on tape, The Tennessean reported.

“When the police came and asked me what happened, I said, ‘I don’t know.’ There was a guy there maybe and I remember he was standing there and I said maybe he threw his bike at me,” Neely told the newspaper Monday.

The private school placed Neely on a leave of absence to investigate the incident. A notice at the top if its website indicates Neely transitioned from dean of students to a part-time role this summer.

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Video appears to show school leader hitting cyclist with his car, leaving scene."