Portland police chief uses injury to promote wearing bicycle helmets

PORTLAND – Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood has a scary face, and he’s using it to teach kids about wearing bicycle helmets.

Chitwood’s face is covered with scrapes, bruises and stitches after he took a serious tumble Monday on a borrowed bike in North Carolina.

He said he was lucky he landed on his face because he wasn’t wearing a helmet when he crashed. Had he landed on his head rather than his face, Chitwood said, he could have been paralyzed or killed.

Chitwood said he always wears a helmet while biking in Maine. But he went without one when he borrowed a bike to take advantage of mild weather while visiting his daughter and her family in North Carolina.

He was reaching down when the bike hit a speed bump in a parking lot. He landed on his face and ended up on his stomach. He was able to pick himself up and use his shirt to stop the flow of blood.

“There are so many children and so many adults in our Greater Portland area who ride bikes without helmets, and then here I am, knowing better and preaching public safety, doing the same thing,” he said.

A motorist called for an ambulance, and Chitwood received eight stitches in his cheek.

The chief said he realized his face could convince others to be more careful when he saw the look he got from his 5-year-old granddaughter, who immediately promised to always wear a helmet from now on.

It would be hard for anyone to hide the embarrassing evidence on Chitwood’s face. But he’s not one to try, anyway. He was on live TV Friday explaining his mistake and preaching bicycle safety.

“I just want people to see stupidity,” he said.