Bicyclist punched, robbed in Sam Smith Park

A bike commuter was robbed of his wallet last week along the Interstate 90 bike route in Seattle.

Just after 5 p.m. Thursday, the victim, a Beacon Hill man, said he was riding through Sam Smith Park, west of the I-90 Mount Baker bike tunnel when he was yanked off his bike by "two hoodlums in all black wearing hockey masks," one of whom punched him in the face.

After contacting police, the man wrote a detailed account to online forums at the Cascade Bicycle Club and point83.com. Between condolences, other cyclists suggested riding in groups, carrying a baton weapon, or going to neighborhood anti-crime meetings.

"If automobile drivers were regularly being pulled from their cars and beaten, there would be a tremendous response from media and police," wrote bicyclist Ben Feigert, of Seattle.

Seattle police will assign the case to robbery detectives, spokeswoman Renee Witt said on Monday.

A similar crime occurred along the route last May, when a Seattle University professor was attacked by three teens who stole his wallet.