A Portland bicyclist struck by a motorist who was later found guilty of assault but insane reached a $100,000 settlement with the driver's insurance ompany for injuries and expenses.

KGW photo

Johnny Eschweiler

The settlement comes nearly two years after Ben Ramsdell was hit while cycling in the 1000 block of Southeast Clinton Street after an exchange of words with driver Johnny Eschweiler.

 Stunned witnesses then reported Eschweiler turned a corner and deliberately struck Ramsdell with the car, along with a second bicyclist, Timothy Mastne, who had happened to pedal upon the scene.

Last April, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael McShane ruled that Eschweiler was guilty but insane of assault and ordered him not to jail, but to house arrest for 15 years with tight supervision by state psychiatrists. The DMV also revoked his license.

Background: Judge rules insanity

Eschweiler, who was a janitor at the time of the collision, has a history of mental illness. At 19, records show he stabbed a co-worker in the face with a fork. At 23, surgeons had to remove part of his brain.

Ramsdell’s attorney, Mark J. Ginsberg, said the difficulty in reaching an insurance settlement was that Eschweiler never cooperated with Farmer’s, his insurance company, And the collision was not an accident because it was intentional, initially absolving Farmer’s of making any payout.

“He hit the people,” Ginsberg said. “That was never the issue.”

The turning point came with the insanity ruling, he said, which raised the issue of whether Eschweiler could even make a distinction that running down the bicyclists was intentional.

Ramsdell felt that with Eschweiler’s condition, both mentally and being under house arrest, the best course was to settle for the $100,000, the maximum allowed by Farmer’s under the motorist’s policy, Ginsberg said.

A settlement with cyclist Mastne has not been determined.