A hit-and-run crash that injured a bicyclist in Spokane Valley was apparently a driver’s revenge for the biker insulting his girlfriend, police said Tuesday.

Dallas Cress, 22, called Crime Check on Sunday afternoon and said he “intentionally struck the bicyclist,” identified as Jonathan W. McElfish, 42, of Spokane, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

McElfish has been upgraded to serious condition in the intensive care unit at a Spokane hospital.

Investigators believe Cress struck McElfish while driving a red 1996 Ford Mustang, then possibly ran him over or dragged him with the Mustang.

Cress said he and his girlfriend were drunk and arguing in the Costco parking lot in Spokane Valley when McElfish approached on his bike, made “some disparaging remarks about this guy’s girlfriend,” and pedaled away, said Detective Dave Thornburg. Cress said he followed McElfish and struck him with his Mustang, Thornburg said. “He said he meant to hit him with his car because he was mad,” Thornburg said.

Cress faces assault charges but is cooperating with investigators and has not been arrested.