WASHINGTON — Syndicated columnist and TV political pundit Robert Novak said he was issued a $50 citation by D.C. police Wednesday morning after he hit a pedestrian while driving his sports car in downtown Washington.

Witnesses said the collision occurred in slow-moving traffic about 10 a.m. as Novak, 77, was headed north on 18th Street NW in his black 2004 Chevrolet Corvette.

District of Columbia fire department spokesman Alan Etter said the victim is a man in his 60s who was taken to George Washington University Medical Center with “very minor injuries.”

“He’s complaining about some pain in his arm, but there are no visible injuries,” Etter said.

Novak, who was cited for failing to yield a right of way, said in an interview that he was unaware at first that he had struck the pedestrian.

After Novak had driven about a block from the scene, he said, he was flagged down by several witnesses, including a bicyclist who called D.C. police.

Novak said the bicyclist was “shouting at me that I couldn’t just hit people and drive away. But I didn’t know I’d hit him. I really didn’t have any idea it happened until they flagged me down and told me.”

Asked if believed Novak’s account of not seeing the pedestrian, bicyclist David Bono, 47, said, “No, I would not believe that.”

Bono, a partner at the law firm Harkins Cunningham, said: “I can tell you what I saw. I was on K Street on my bicycle and what I saw was a guy get hit by a black Corvette convertible. I see the guy go up on the hood, up on the windshield.” As the Corvette turned right from 18th Street onto the service road beside K, Bono said, “the guy rolled off the hood and landed on the street.”

Bono said he passed Novak’s car on his bike and came to a stop in front of the Corvette, which then also stopped.

District police have not returned calls seeking comment on the incident.