U.S. Millionaire Banker Eric Bellquist Arrested In Putney Bridge Pusher Case

A millionaire investment banker from the U.S. called Eric Bellquist has been arrested for allegedly pushing a woman into the path of an oncoming bus whilst he was furiously jogging along London’s Putney Bridge.

The Putney Bridge Pusher, as he has been branded by the media, has caught the collective imagination of the British public in a big way.

It’s not hard to fathom why. For those unfamiliar with the case here’s a recap.

Earlier this week a 33-year-old woman was innocently walking along the Putney Bridge and minding her own business when she was confronted with the huff and puff and grunt and groan of a jogger pounding the capital’s pavements.

Rather than delicately sidestep the hapless pedestrian, the Putney Bridge Pusher barges into her and aggressively pushes the startled lady onto a busy road and into the path of an oncoming bus without so much as a second thought or glance.

Miraculously the poor woman escaped being crushed by the fast-moving juggernaut due to the bus-driver’s quick-witted reactions. The man behind the wheel quickly swerved into another lane to avoid running over the jogger’s victim. In doing so he saved her life.

To aggravate what was already a sore situation, the jogger retraced his steps back over the same bridge 15 minutes later. The woman who was having her minor injuries being tended to by passengers from the bus attempted to stop her assailant and discuss why he did what he did. Apparently he did not so much as acknowledge her.

The incident fueled public outrage and the police launched a nationwide manhunt to find the running man.

The chase was on. The media speculated as to what sort of person was capable of such a thing and the public enthusiastically replied with a host of disparaging and colorful adjectives.

Finally, a suspect was arrested. His name is Eric Bellquist and he’s a 41-year-old millionaire investment banker from America.

Mr. Bellquist, who works for London-based firm Hutton Collins has furiously denied the allegation. He has stressed he was not even in the British capital at the time of the incident.

According to the Daily Mail, a law firm representing Mr. Bellquist, who lives in Chelsea, has released the following statement.

“Our client has been wrongly implicated in this matter; he categorically denies being the individual concerned and has irrefutable proof that he was in the United States at the time of the incident. Consequently we expect a swift resolution to this wholly untrue allegation.”

[Featured Image by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images]