Cyclist Identified as Israeli Psychologist

The cyclist killed in a collision with a dump truck yesterday has been identified as distinguished Israeli psychologist Shlomo Bentin.

The Romanian-born Bentin, 65, was a professor at Hebrew University. Earlier this year, he was awarded the 2012 Israel Prize for Psychology. He has published several papers in collaboration with colleagues at UC Berkeley.

Passersby told police Bentin had been riding his bicycling when he collided with a truck at Bancroft Way and Fulton Street around 3:38 p.m. Officers arrived to find him lying in the street. 

The truck driver drove on, apparently unaware that the cyclist had gone down, but returned to the scene after being alerted by a passing motorcyclist.

Investigators continue to probe the sequence of events, said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss in a press statement.

Bentin was transported to Highland Hospital, where he died at 4:40 p.m., a spokeswoman for the Alameda County Coroner said. The driver of the truck has been cooperative throughout the initial investigation and is not under arrest.

Bentin had been a member of the Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation at Hebrew University. In 1991 he founded the university’s Cognitive Electrophysiology Laboratory.

The Israel Prize award committee noted that Bentin had "produced generations of students who hold academic positions in Israel and abroad."

The police are asking for the community’s help with this investigation. Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to call the non-emergency dispatch line at (510)981-5900.

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