Located in southwest London, Putney is often regarded as one of the city’s safest boroughs. Its streets are lined with trees, and there are plenty of green spaces where residents can relax or engage in healthy activities, such as running and walking.
However, in May 2017, Putney was the scene of a disturbing random act of violence that shocked the public. Despite the efforts by the Metropolitan Police and online sleuths, the case remains unsolved to this day.
The incident
On the morning of May 5th, 2017, life in London began as usual for its residents. Putney Bridge, which connects the borough to Fulham, was crowded with commuters heading for work.
At 7:40 am, a 430 double-decker bus was traveling over Putney Bridge at a speed of 12 miles per hour due to the heavy traffic at this time of day.
Oliver Salbris, the bus driver, was paying close attention to the road ahead of him when he saw a woman fall directly in front of the bus.
Reacting quickly, he swerved the bus, just barely missing her head. The bus stopped, and several passengers got off to assist the woman. Bystanders at the bridge thought she tripped and fell. But that wasn’t the case.
The 33-year-old woman was shoved off the pedestrian path directly into the traffic by a jogger who continued running toward Putney without stopping to see if she was okay.
Shockingly, the same man returned 15 minutes later, jogging by the woman who was still in shock. She recognized him, but he ignored her, continuing his run over the bridge toward Fulham.
Fortunately, the woman only sustained minor injuries, but the incident left her traumatized. The entire event was captured on CCTV and turned over to the Metropolitan Police, who took a closer look at the videos.
Investigators reviewed footage from the nearby cameras, but were unable to identify the attacker. Hoping for help from the public, the dash cam video was released to the media in August 2017, and it sparked immediate outrage.
The Putney Pusher
The Metropolitan Police stated the perpetrator, referred to by the media as the Putney Pusher, was a white man in his early to mid-30s, athletically built, with brown hair and brown eyes.
On the day of the incident, he was wearing a light gray T-shirt, dark shorts, and gray running shoes. Investigators urged the public to look closely at the CCTV footage and contact them in case they recognize the jogger.
The victim’s name wasn’t revealed, but she did release a statement expressing her gratitude to Oliver Salbris, the bus driver.
Salbris said the incident left him shaken and encouraged the jogger to turn himself in. He also noted that the fact that the bus was moving slowly due to rush hour helped him swerve the vehicle in time.
It seemed like the video terrified the entire London, especially the commuters and runners who had never even considered that someone might suddenly push them into traffic.
Many tried to figure out the reason why the unidentified jogger pushed the woman, but the video clearly indicated it was a random act of aggression.
The jogger didn’t speak to the woman or approach her. Instead, he seemingly decided to shove her just seconds before acting on it. The possibility of an unprovoked attack in broad daylight made the people of London feel that they might not be as safe as they thought they were in public places.
Thousands of tips came in within the next few days, as the video circulated on social media. With many new leads to follow, the Metropolitan Police were confident they would solve the case.
The suspects
On August 10th, 2017, the police arrested 41-year-old Eric Bellquist at his home in Chelsea, West London. Originally from the United States, Bellquist was a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder who previously worked for Lehman Brothers.
At the time of his arrest, he was employed as an investment banker at Hutton Collins Partners. Bellquist was identified by several callers as the man in the footage.
During his interview, Bellquist claimed he was in California on vacation at the time of the incident, but investigators didn’t believe him. Luckily, his legal team provided all the evidence that confirmed Bellquist was indeed in the United States on the morning of May 5th, 2017, and he was released on bail.
It didn’t take long for the information about the arrest of the Putney Pusher to reach the public, and Bellquist started receiving threats right away. His social media accounts were flooded with hostile comments and messages, which led him to fear for his safety and hire bodyguards for protection.
Wanting to learn as much as possible about the suspect, internet sleuths and investigative journalists began checking Bellquist’s online presence. They found his MapMyRun profile, which revealed he hadn’t used it since 2013.
While this information didn’t mean he stopped running, it provided the public with insight into his favorite routes. Curiously, none of his recorded runs included the Putney Bridge. Furthermore, his favorite route was from Sloane Square to Battersea Park, miles away from Putney.
After Bellquist’s release, the Metropolitan Police admitted they didn’t look into his whereabouts at the time of the incident, confirming he was outside of the UK in May.
Investigators disclosed they were aware of Bellquist’s MapMyRun profile, and commented that they didn’t have time to review it before the arrest.
Friends of Bellquist urged the Metropolitan Police to issue an official apology because the banker believed his reputation had been damaged due to poor police work. However, investigators maintained that they had reasonable grounds to arrest Bellquist, and no apology was issued.
On August 12th, 2017, a second man was arrested and taken to a south London police station for an interview. Law enforcement didn’t reveal his identity, but stated he was also 41 years old. The man was released from custody later that day.
A man from Aberdeen was the third person to be arrested in relation to this case, but he was also quickly released without charges.
The Metropolitan Police continued making appeals to the public and published an additional photo of the jogger taken from the bus. But the investigation ultimately reached a standstill.
Theories
The case of the Putney Pusher gained online popularity immediately, with thousands of users trying to uncover the real identity of the jogger and solve the mystery.
Many highlighted the number of CCTV cameras across London, arguing it seemed nearly impossible that none of them caught the unidentified jogger crossing the bridge for the second time.
This led some users to theorize that the Pusher might have worked for an embassy and was out of the country shortly after the incident.
Others suggested that the Pusher could have been a guest at the nearby Premier Inn and hid inside just minutes after pushing the woman in front of the bus. This could be one explanation of how he avoided the cameras.
Even though there are 691,000 CCTV cameras in London, blind spots exist. Plus, the city is crowded, and people can quickly blend in, especially when wearing nondescript clothing like the Putney Pusher. Furthermore, there are no CCTV cameras on the bridge itself.
Others speculated about the motivation for the attack, suggesting that the jogger might’ve mistaken the woman for someone else.
His refusal to acknowledge the woman as he ran back across the bridge indicated he could’ve experienced a moment of mental distress and thought the woman was in his way.
Body language experts chimed in after analyzing the footage, saying that the Putney Pusher exhibited signs of pent-up anger. They pointed out his clenched fists and posture, which can be seen in the video.
According to these experts, the man is probably not an aggressive person in his everyday life, but he experienced a moment of temporary rage, lashing out at the nearest person.
Giving up
As months went by, the interest in the case of Putney Pusher slowly faded. In June 2018, the Metropolitan Police officially announced that they were closing the investigation for now after all lines of enquiry had been exhausted. Despite the nationwide manhunt, the suspect remained unidentified.
During the investigation, officers identified and interviewed more than 50 people of interest, but cleared each one of them. A spokesperson noted that any new information about the Putney Pusher would be explored in the future and urged potential witnesses to the incident to come forward and report what they knew.
In April 2024, seven years after the incident, the OSO Arts Centre in Barnes staged a play titled Once Upon a Bridge in hopes of generating new leads.
The play examined the attack from various perspectives, allowing the audience to hear a fictionalized story from the viewpoints of the Pusher, the victim, and the driver of the double-decker bus.
The Metropolitan Police didn’t reveal if the play led to witnesses coming forward. The identity of the Putney Pusher remains unknown to this day.
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