A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for Nemaha County in Nebraska until 5 p.m. and eastern Fremont, southeastern Mills, southern Montgomery and Page counties in Iowa until 5:15 p.m. Sunday.
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A man enjoying a ride on a local bike trail is suddenly hit by a golf ball. Now he wants to warn others.
Kyle Volcek took up cycling after injuring his ankle serving in Hong Kong. He tries to ride 2 hours or 30 miles everyday, and uses the trails around Lake Manawa because they're convenient.
Recently, he says he got on the Lake Manawa Bike Trail at Veterans Memorial Highway headed south. He immediately saw two guys with a golf bag and club outside the Wooded Lake Mobile Home Park. There was no driving range in sight.
“As I got closer he started getting into his stance and it all happened within a matter of about 10 seconds. I'm thinking he's not really going to do it, yeah he's doing it. Ouch, then it hit me. It started coming at my head and then it had a little fade and hit me (in the side)," Volcek described.
He called police, but the guys ran off. Volcek was left with a large welt on his side.
“They could've hit me in the head, it could've been brutal,” Volcek explained. "I was about a foot away from being a vegetable."
Police say they haven't received any other reports, but a landowner along the west side of the creek says he finds buckets of balls in his grass each summer. The City of Council Bluffs estimates that about 20,000 people use the Lake Manawa Bike Trail each year. Kyle says he hopes those responsible will quit targeting people on the trail.
"It's definitely not safe and anybody in their right mind who can do that consciously, it's appalling really,” Volcek concluded. "I'd like to tie him up and tee golf balls at him but."
A sergeant with the Council Bluffs Police Department says it would be tough to prove that someone intentionally tried to hit a golf ball at a person, and actually connected with it.
