Bicyclist assaults NYPD officer

[HarryKeogh]

According to the complaint against him, some crazed bicyclist deliberately steered his bicycle into some poor cop just trying to do his job, knocking the police officer to the ground.

from MSNBC

The biker, Christopher Long, of Hoboken, N.J., was arrested because he was obstructing traffic in the heart of Times Square, a criminal complaint said. He was charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.The complaint said Long, 29, deliberately steered his bicycle into the officer, causing both of them to fall to the ground.
During his arrest, Long squirmed and kicked, saying to the officers, "You are pawns in the game. I'm gonna have your job," the complaint said.

And here's the proof...



Man, I hope these charges stick. Your family could be the next victim of this two-wheeled menace.

Hippies.

anyway...enough of my lame sarcasm. Thank Ed for video. Hopefully the charges against Long will be dropped and this cop will lose his badge permanently. That's some pretty damn violent behavior to body check some guy zooming past you on a bike for no good reason.

 

[Mojo]

anyway...enough of my lame sarcasm. Thank Ed for video. Hopefully the charges against Long will be dropped and this cop will lose his badge permanently. That's some pretty damn violent behavior to body check some guy zooming past you on a bike for no good reason.

And the other cop in the video?

Bill DiPaola, a director of Time’s Up, said he arrived just after Mr. Long went down. “He got up and was dazed,” he said, referring to Mr. Long. Then, referring to Officer Pogan and the other officer in the video, he said, “They put their knees on top of his head and were smashing him into a phone booth.”

Source

From the video, he must have seen what happened.

 

[billydkid]

What the hell was that about? Was the cop bored or something? Like I like to say so often "Just servin' and protectin'". America's heros. Being a cop is the only job where you can get away with, more or less, randomly assaulting people. I don't think it's any mystery the kind of people it might tend to attract.

 

[shemp]

What amazes me is that, given the ubiquitousness of video recording capability nowadays, this cop was dumb enough not to realize that there was a very strong likelihood that his actions would be caught on camera. Idiot.

 

[Bikewer]

Yeppers, I'd call that an assault. On the part of the officer. And as shemp noted, absolutely amazing that any officer would perform such a blatant offense in public.

Note that "Critical Mass" is an in-your-face bicycle "advocacy" group, which since the 70s has staged these large-scale "rides" planned specifically to disrupt vehicle traffic and call attention to the superiority of bike transport.
Perhaps the officer got fed up with constant traffic disruptions? Who knows. A stupid act.
Smile and wave, that's what I would do; smile and wave.

 

[The Painter]

This was not just a random assault on a cyclist. He was part of a movement called "Critical Mass".

Critics have claimed that Critical Mass is a deliberate attempt to obstruct automotive traffic and cause a disruption of normal city functions, asserting that individuals taking part in Critical Mass refuse to obey the vehicular traffic laws that apply to cyclists the same as they do to drivers of other vehicles.[19]

In California's San Francisco Bay Area, there have been several incidents of conflict during Critical Mass events.[20] Similar conflicts have arisen during critical mass rides in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Seattle, Washington.

Police in New York have claimed that Critical Mass bicyclists corking intersections to allow the mass of bikes to pass may delay emergency vehicles unable to move in the gridlock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass#cite_note-usatoday-13

Critical Mass has disrupted cities around the world. The cops is still a jerk, but the cyclist was not innocent saint either.

 

[BPSCG]

This was not just a random assault on a cyclist. He was part of a movement called "Critical Mass".

How do you know?

 

[JoeEllison]

This was not just a random assault on a cyclist. He was part of a movement called "Critical Mass".


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass#cite_note-usatoday-13

Critical Mass has disrupted cities around the world. The cops is still a jerk, but the cyclist was not innocent saint either.

The bicyclist was obviously innocent of anything requiring being assaulted by a police officer. Your attempt to justify a criminal act and to attack citizen groups is pathetic. I don't care if the bicyclist in question was a member of ANY organization, the police don't have the right to assault people. Maybe you want to live in a world where you and your loved ones can be beaten up by cops, because other people like you will find a way to absolve the police of any wrongdoing... but that's not a world that any right-thinking person supports.

 

[Ian Osborne]

It's clear from the video footage that the cyclist was steering away from the cop at the time. The police officer should be facing charges, and the cyclist heading for an agreeable payday.

 

[JoeEllison]

I think some of the negative reactions to Critical Mass show a sickness in our culture. We've got this crazy entitlement thing going on which makes people think that being inconvenienced or slowed down in any way means they are justified to react in any way they see fit. People need to learn to relax and calm down, especially when they are driving.


According to Wikipedia, the Chicago cops just ride along with the cyclists and help direct traffic, which is the sane and reasonable thing to do.

 

[JoeEllison]

It's clear from the video footage that the cyclist was steering away from the cop at the time. The police officer should be facing charges, and the cyclist heading for an agreeable payday.

Yeah, in a sane world the cyclist would be out shopping for a $10,000 racing bike on that cop's dime.

 

[GreNME]

The sweet, sweet sound of Justice.

 

[HarryKeogh]

Looks like the cop was a 22-year-old rookie, 3rd generation NYPD.

source

His father, a retired NYPD officer had this to offer...

Pogan's father, a retired NYPD detective who worked on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, defended his son's actions last night. "You gotta do what you gotta do to make an arrest," said Patrick Pogan Sr., 51, who retired in 2002.
He said his son is the third generation of NYPD in the family. "I'm proud of my son. He's a good kid."

Yep, he's a good kid. A real sweetheart.

 

[Drudgewire]

With that attitude, you gotta wonder if the dad's retirement at the age of 45 was completely voluntary.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Yeppers, I'd call that an assault. On the part of the officer. And as shemp noted, absolutely amazing that any officer would perform such a blatant offense in public.

Not just in public, in times square.

 

[TX50]

Was that supposed to be an arrest? The cop seems to observe
the approach of the target for some moments before moving on
him.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

It's clear from the video footage that the cyclist was steering away from the cop at the time. The police officer should be facing charges, and the cyclist heading for an agreeable payday.

Yeah, he looked like he was trying to dodge the cop and ride around him. A pretty sharp ride around, yes, but it didn't look like he delibrately crashed into him at all.

The police officer should have watched where he was going- that was a perfectly avoidable accident.

It looks like a simple accident that later spun way out of control to me.

 

[The Painter]

The bicyclist was obviously innocent of anything requiring being assaulted by a police officer. Your attempt to justify a criminal act and to attack citizen groups is pathetic. I don't care if the bicyclist in question was a member of ANY organization, the police don't have the right to assault people. Maybe you want to live in a world where you and your loved ones can be beaten up by cops, because other people like you will find a way to absolve the police of any wrongdoing... but that's not a world that any right-thinking person supports.

Perhaps you missed the part where I said the cop is a jerk?Cyclists are required to follow the same laws as cars. If they don't the are subject to arrest. I've seen these "critical mass " protest rides. They can really f things up in Manhattan. What the cop did was wrong and I never said otherwise. Just because the cops tackled the cyclist doesn't not automatically make the cyclist completely innocent. Can you tell me , before the video started, exactly what took place? No? Maybe the cyclist hit someone, maybe not you don't know. Maybe you should wait and get all the facts. As much as I would like the cop to be wrong, I will cut him some slack before I accuse him like you have.

because other people like you will find a way to absolve the police of any wrongdoing

You have no idea how far off base you are on this. Once again you have jumped to a huge untrue assumption. You do that a lot. If you would read instead of just react you wouldn't look so stupid.

Please keep a civil tone in accordance with the Membership agreement. Thank you.

Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: LibraryLady

 

[JoeEllison]

Yeah, he looked like he was trying to dodge the cop and ride around him. A pretty sharp ride around, yes, but it didn't look like he delibrately crashed into him at all.

The police officer should have watched where he was going- that was a perfectly avoidable accident.

It looks like a simple accident that later spun way out of control to me.

If you watch the video again, the cop speeds up for a couple of steps while lowering his body and then exploding up and forward into the cyclist shoving him almost off of the bike, all the time with his gaze focused directly on the cyclist. It doesn't look even remotely like an accident.

 

[JoeEllison]

Perhaps you missed the part where I said the cop is a jerk?Cyclists are required to follow the same laws as cars. If they don't the are subject to arrest. I've seen these "critical mass " pretest rides. They can really f things up in Manhattan. What the cop did was wrong and I never said otherwise. Just because the cops tackled the cyclist doesn't not automatically make the cyclist completely innocent. Can you tell me , before the video started, exactly what took place? No? Maybe the cyclist hit someone, maybe not you don't know. Maybe you should wait and get all the facts. As much as I would like the cop to be wrong, I will cut him some slack before I accuse him like you have.



You have no idea how far off base you are on this. Once again you have jumped to a huge untrue assumption. You do that a lot. If you would read instead of just react you wouldn't look so stupid.

Reported.