Banker cleared of being jogger known as the ‘Putney pusher’

THE investment banker arrested on suspicion of being a jogger who seemingly pushed a woman into the path of a bus has been eliminated from police inquiries with no further action taken.

Eric Bellquist, 41, a millionaire partner at a private equity firm, has been ruled out of the inquiry after he proved he was abroad at the time of the alleged attack.

He had been detained on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm in connection with the woman shoved into the road on Putney Bridge, London, in May this year.

The Metropolitan Police said yesterday that the man had been “eliminated from the investigation”.

Lawyers for Mr Bellquist, from Chelsea, West London, had issued a strongly worded statement on Friday, saying his arrest was the result of mistaken identity and he “categorically” denied being involved.

‘He categorically denies being the individual concerned and has proof he was in the United States’

They said he had “irrefutable proof ” he was in the United States when the apparent assault took place.

The banker, who is American and works in London for the Mayfair-based equity firm Hutton Collins Partners, which owns restaurant chains Wagamama and Byron Hamburgers, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

He sits on the chains’ boards as a non-executive director and has previously worked for the failed US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The police did not reveal the identity of Mr Bellquist when he was arrested on Thursday; however, his legal team named him when they emphatically denied his involvement.

In a statement, they 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 of the incident. Consequently we expect a swift resolution to this wholly untrue allegation.”

The force renewed its appeal for help to try to identify the man seen jogging in CCTV footage of May 5 at 7.40am. A 33-year-old woman suffered minor injuries during the incident.