Posted on 07/29/2008 9:36:14 AM PDT by heartwood
A rookie cop - the son of a highly respected New York City detective - has been stripped of his badge and gun after being caught on video viciously attacking a bicyclist who was part of a Times Square demonstration. '
The startling YouTube video shows Officer Patrick Pogan, 22, apparently setting his sights on - and then tackling - a bicyclist as he pedaled along Seventh Avenue as part of last Friday's controversial Critical Mass ride.
Christopher Long, 29, was among a throng of riders as he whizzed toward the corner of West 46th Street at 9:30 p.m. and appeared to try and swerve away from the officer.
But the video shows Pogan pick up his pace as he stares down Long before shoving the cyclist, slamming him to the pavement.
To the dismay of stunned pedestrians, Long, who was not wearing a helmet, hurtles several feet through the air as he flips off the bicycle and lands on the curb.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Video at link.
ahahaha—pwned
I saw the video once on cable. Looks to me that the bicycle guy was fixing to run over the cop. Could be either I suppose but the video is not cut and dry.
We love GOOD cops, but hate the idiot ones- and really wish the good ones would not allow the bad ones to hide within their ‘code of silence’
Critical Mass is an anarchist movement that rides to shut down roadways to cars.
They run red lights and block the traffic by their own protest.
I've had their members pound my car as they drove by and refused to let me make a legal right turn on red (they were passing on my right hand side and I was in a turn only lane).
Screw them.
are you looking at the same video I saw?
the officer clearly attacked the cyclist.
The cyclists are not innocent themsleves if they close down traffic on purpose for their ‘group ride’... but he could have been killed by this idiot cop
I’m no cop-sucker, but this guy deserves a medal. They can summarily execute the critical mass vermin for all I care.
Very entertaining. Thanks for posting.
go ahead and make your turn- they are bound by the rules of the road- see if they enjoy slamming into the side of your car
As you said re Critical Mass. Both the punk and the cop were wrong, and I won’t mourn for either of them.
The video is pretty bad. The cop needs a new career as does his dad, given his comments.
Well, Pogan, being a law enforcement officer is beyond you. Maybe keeping kids from congregating near the Gap is more up to your skills and temperament.
While I don't condone the antics that "Critical Mass" uses, the policeman was clearly in the wrong.
Even if the cyclist called the policeman's mother a *****, the policeman was in the wrong.
hmmm....have you had your vision checked lately or do you walk the thin blue line?
Sometimes you just snap.
Cop bodychecks bicyclisg
At least it wasn’t a bicyclist!
Some of us are harsher than that.
ANY cop that lets a bad cop break the law and doesn't arrest him IS a bad cop.
A good cop is one that doesn't break the law and doesn't allow others to break the law. Including other cops.
But yes, by my definition, I love good cops.
Having said that, I should point out that the cop was a fool.
And how are these charges going to stick in court considering what precipitated the interaction between cyclist and Pogan?
You didn't look at THIS video.
The cop walks twenty feet sideways looking right at his target.
What? The guy goes all the way to the edge of the roadway to try to AVOID the cop. The cop picked him out for no apparent reason and assaulted him. There are few things worse than a thug with a badge.
IMO, they won't. Long will sue, and the taxpayers of NYC will pay the bill.
Sorry. This sure looks like the officers were walking to the curb and the bicyclist tried to run down the cop or intimidate him.
Who knows? Maybe what precipitated the interaction was the attempted assault on somebody else?
Why does Bloomburg permit this bicycle anarchy ?
The video clearly shows the cop going after the cyclist, not vice versa. Pogan should be charged with assault (at minimum) and do some jail time himself.
I am with you 100%
A bad cop is lower than a criminal, and good cops who tolerate them become bad cops by definition too
If you ever want to see a very entertaining display of "renegade cops," see if you can get your hands on some of the video footage from the infamous Tompkins Square Park riot in New York City back in the 1980s. I was 100% behind those cops even though they clearly crossed the line from a legal standpoint.
How come there’s on sound?
Sorry, but from what I see on the video, this is completely cut and dried. The line of the cyclist was well to the left of the cop and moving further left. The cop actually increased his speed forward with the obvious intention of intercepting the cyclist.
You've got to try real, real hard to give the cop any room on this one.
Personally, I'd like to see him charged with assualt and placed in the same cell one of us would be in had we performed exactly the same stunt.
Cheers,
Lloyd
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0729081bike1.html
The cops version to the court is really ridiculous. While the bicyclists may be a royal pain, that doesn’t give cops the right to assault. He should be prosecuted.
ok are you nuts?
the cop CLEARLY walked over to TARGET the bicyclist, not the other way around
do you not see the cop leap to the cyclist at the end?
are you a cop protecting another cop?
What had the cyclist done before the take down?
Had he JUST hopped on his bike or had he been riding awhile?
Something triggered the officer to one cyclist of many.
Bound by the rules of the road?
They REFUSE to obey the rules of the road. If he made that turn not only might he have hist someone and lost everything in a civil suit, but he might have gotten the crap beaten out of him as happened in another city to a driver a few days ago when he encountered ‘Critical Mass’
Some of these people are violent thugs.
Maybe he was giving a demonstration in why helmet laws save lives.
Correction: Having said that, you should point out that the cop is a criminal and no better than any other criminal charged with assault in NYC. Any cop that covers for him is also a criminal. Taking away his badge should be only the beginning and this man should do jail time for what was an obvious attempt to injure another human.
period
geez- i just looked at the video again...
you have to be very careful here- are you trying to protect a cop’s bad behavior?
He ELBOWS the cyclist CLEARLY knocking him off the bike... no grey area here
I have no sympathy for critical mass bicyclists. The only critical mass they need to see is....< self censoring >
I wonder if the biker did something right before the vid???? Like almost cause an accident, or kickin’ a car, or somethin’ else?? Cop is still a jrk though.
Show me a bicyclist who obeys ALL traffic laws and I’ll like ‘em.
Pogan never claimed any of those things happened. His story is the cyclist targeted him which is clearly a lie.
Could you change the title spelling? I mean, “bicyclisg”? The embarrassment...
Cop deserves to lose his job... but an enjoyable video nonetheless. If only there were some way that both of them could have caught on fire, I think we’d have ‘America’s Funniest Videos’ material.
that WAS one big cop!
We must just be cop bashers. The cop should have the right to knock people down whenever he wants. He also should have tased the camera guy, then busted the camera for good measure. That’ll teach the subjects.
-bflv-
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.