City millionaire: I am jogger held for trying to push woman under bus
... but I’m completely innocent and can prove that I was in America at the time
A MILLIONAIRE financier yesterday revealed he is the man who was arrested after a woman was pushed into the path of a bus by a jogger.
But Eric Bellquist, 41, told police he was innocent and had irrefutable proof he was in the US at the time, it is understood.
The American was held at his £2milliion home in Chelsea, West London, on Thursday after a tip-off from someone who had seen footage of a runner attacking a pedestrian on nearby Putney Bridge.
Mr Bellquist’s lawyers yesterday released a statement naming him after speculation about the suspect’s identity.
But they said they expected police to clear him shortly and were preparing to release a dossier of evidence to prove that he had been wrongly implicated.
The financier, who works for investment firm Hutton Collins Partners, is the grandson of a former US diplomat and has enjoyed a high- flying career in finance and hospitality. A graduate of the Uni- versity of Colorado Boulder in the US, he is one of only five partners at the Pall Mall investment firm, which owns the restaurant chain Byron.
He sits as a non-executive director on the boards of various companies including Wagamama and Byron.
Mr Bellquist, who joined Hutton Collins from Lehman Brothers in 2002, was also responsible for his firm investing in Caffè Nero.
Scotland Yard has been flooded with calls from the public over the past week after releasing dramatic CCTV footage of the jogger incident.
The woman, who lives in Putney, was walking to work on May 5 when she was barged into the road by a runner in what police believe was a deliberate attack.
The shove sent her sprawling head-first into the road as a double-decker London bus headed towards her. The driver, travelling at 12mph, CCTV: Footage released by police of the attacker managed to swerve – narrowly missing the woman’s head as she lay inches from the vehicle’s wheels.
Her attacker then brazenly ran past her on the same bridge 15 minutes later, without saying a word to her.
Stunned, the victim, who was bruised and in pain, called out. But the runner ignored her and sprinted off without a backward glance.
Yesterday Mr Bellquist was unavailable for comment, but a law firm acting on his behalf released a statement.
It said: ‘Our client has been wrongly implicated in this matter; he categorically denies being the individual concerned and has irrefutable proof that he was in the United States at the time.
‘Consequently we expect a swift resolution to this wholly untrue allegation.’
Last night neighbours said they were shocked after Mr Bellquist was seen being taken out of his flat in handcuffs by four officers, who also removed a bag of evidence from the property after a dawn raid.
Colin Stepney, a builder working on another house on the road, where homes fetch more than £4.4million, said: ‘Four officers bought him out in handcuffs.
‘He looked like he had just got out of bed, a bit scruffy I suppose. He was wearing a white T-shirt.
‘He wasn’t saying anything – he didn’t look upset or angry. He just quietly walked with them to the van.’
Mr Bellquist was taken to a police station in South London and quizzed for a number of hours before being released.
But he remains under investigation while police make further inquiries after receiving the tip-off about the suspect from a member of the public. Mr Bellquist is a keen runner. He records his favourite routes across on the Mapmyrun smartphone app, which says he has covered more than 180 miles.
The device, which shows he last uploaded his runs in 2013, records how many calories he burned and his pace during various sprints across Chelsea. None of the routes shown on the website goes over Putney Bridge.
It is not clear why Mr Bellquist was apparently visiting America at the time when the pedestrian was pushed on Putney Bridge, but his family are all based in the US.
He is the grandson of the late Eric Bellquist, who was a distinguished Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Berkeley University, where he spent 56 years.
The professor, who died in 1979, once served as First Secretary of the US embassy in Stockholm.
The former diplomat was the recipient of a number of honours including being made Knight Commander and Order of the North Star in Sweden, and being given the Berkeley Citation – the university’s highest honour.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said a 41-year- old man had been arrested in Chelsea on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.
The spokesman added: ‘He was taken to a South London police station for questioning and has been released under investigation pending further inquiries.’
‘Bruised and in pain’ ‘Looked a bit scruffy’