Posted on 09/18/2011 7:32:42 AM PDT by Immerito
A few months ago, I received a phone call from a cyclist with an incredible story about an incident in Lawrence County, Ohio. Because the cyclist-a guy named Tony Patrick-was in need of an attorney, I hooked him up with Steve Magas, a contributing author to Bicycling & the Law, and a well-known bicycling attorney in Ohio. After hearing Tony's story, Steve took his case. More about that later; first, let me tell you about Tony.
Weekdays, Tony runs his small construction company in Huntington, West Virginia. Weeknights, and weekends, Tony, a Cat 2 racer, can often be found hanging out at Jeff's Bike Shop-that is, when he's not out on a training ride, or racing. And that's not unusual; Jeff's Bike Shop is the center of a vibrant racing scene in Huntington, the second-largest city in West Virginia, and the home of Marshall University.
That racing scene means regular training rides, all of which start out and end up at Jeff's. There's a ride every other day, each geared to a different set of riders, but the real hammerfest is the Tuesday night ride. That's the ride where the locals try, as Tony puts it, to hurt each other over the course of a 23-34 mile route that takes them across the Ohio River, into the back roads of southern Ohio, before looping back across the river into Huntington.
And that's how Tony found himself just outside of Chesapeake, Ohio, one Tuesday night in August of 2008, heading into town to take the bridge back across to Huntington. Tony was riding with "Ryan," a then-16 year old nationally-ranked racer with a 4.2 GPA. ["Ryan" is a pseudonym; I've concealed his identity because he's a minor.]
(Excerpt) Read more at bicycling.com ...
“No. Lesson here is when a cop tells you to do something you do it, and don’t give him any lip. Sort it out later if you want to be some kind of hero.”
here lick my boots, they are black and SHINY!
Stupid. If a cop says it to you, then get off the f*ing road. Don't be a wise guy, it usually doesn't work out too well.
After suffering through that article, I would have entitled it “When A-holes Collide”,
My take also in this case.
I definitely think there are times to challenge the police state which we have brought upon ourselves, but normally that is via the court system. There too however Judges have become the police authority when the fundamental principle of a court of law is trial by a jury of fellow citizens; the Judge is only a referee, and lawyers of course really have no special standing except to represent someone "before the bar" if that someone agrees.
Just as there seems to be more and more A-holes in our society, likewise there seems to be more and more in police enforcement. One reflects the other.
Personally I think we are seeing a serious breakdown in US civil society and I call that Leftism.
Every time some bicyclist starts chatting about how car drivers don’t look or don’t make room, blah, blah, blah, I ask, “Should bicyclists pass on the right?”
“Until they pay for the road as motor vehicle drivers do, they’ll get little sympathy from most people. :-) “
Funny thing about bicyclists, most of them are drivers and taxpayers too.
shazzam, so much for that “when they pay” argument.
Sucker is actually 12 pages long! Might be a good message/point there, but 12 pages?!
Dhimmikrats support hyphenated american special citizenship rights to the endangered “VAIL-SKIER” and to the “CYCLIST-ATTORNEY”.
Cyclists seem to lack just routine, commonplace manners. Cyclists appear to have rights to property along their special paths.
Most folks have to have identity papers(the plastic thing with your photo from the DMV). Cyclist-Attorneys don’t need one. They could be lordy knows all sorts of unwanted folks like pedophiles or serial rapists hanging out near daycares or school zones. They might even be ACORN folks visitng the local CEMETERY to register voters.
Caddis
“4.2 GPA”?
I submit to you that the solution to that bike problem isn’t profane, violent, ignorant, abusive, and ultimately, unlawful police actions.
The pages are short, but in any case if you click “print” it comes out in one big page.
I read this story. The bicycle riders are lying in my opinion. They wore their bicycle rights on their sleeves and taunted a cop. Bad move. Right does not translate to impediment, nuisance or bad judgement.
Hence my comment, you’ll get your opportunity to make your case in court in front of calmer minds.
Some places give A+ = 4.3, or even H (for honors) = 5.
Couple of homos on bicycles with spandex pants and Aliens Hats....
Kill 'em both, it's the only way to be sure...
The article says that the LEO gave a specific order (lawful, since the LEO is authorized to control traffic). The order was simple: first, ride in a single file and then, when the first order wasn't listened to, get off the road. There is no need to debate those orders as those riders did. You can debate all you want in the courtroom, *after* you complied and then sued the police.
The article takes several pages to tell us that the riders repeatedly failed to stop. In the end the deputy was forced to block the road with his car and fire his Taser. It is possible but minimally believable that the deputy was just messing with those riders out of boredom.
I can accept that the deputy was upset that his orders are ignored, and the situation escalated. But the riders - or anyone else to that matter - upon seeing the lights and hearing the orders should do what they are told, and challenge these orders when they are safe. Telling the LEO "I have a right to be here" and continuing to ride is even technically stupid: the police may even have good reasons to temporarily remove bikes from a certain road. What if there is a vehicle out of control, or a chase, approaching, or an oversized vehicle, or a motorcade?
The entire story, on so many pages, tells us that bike riders see themselves outside of the law. I don't know if they blocked the traffic or not. But they certainly failed to obey lawful orders, repeatedly.
The police doesn't know why they ignored orders to stop. Maybe they were carrying illegal drugs or weapons. Maybe they were riding stolen bikes. Maybe they are criminals in general. Unlikely, of course, but the facts are that they were fleeing the traffic stop. They are lucky that they were only tased. The deputy began with simply advising the riders to let the traffic pass (if that's the truth.) If only they listened, the deputy would be on his way and the incident would be forgotten in minutes. But the riders just had to escalate a minor encounter - which wouldn't even bring them into contact with the deputy - into a full-scale arrest.
With regard to the aftermath, repeated tasing and such, I wasn't there and can't say if it was justified or not. This is something that the police will need to explain.
About the phone: I don't know if the police is supposed to prevent the arrested people (or people being arrested) from calling others. Theoretically that would be understandable, in general - if you arrest one criminal you don't want him to call other criminals. But this should be governed by laws and police instructions.
All in all, I think the police were quite heavy-handed here, but the riders did all in their power to bring it upon them. They deserve each other.
Some school districts will weigh honors classes extra points, allowing a student to earn a higher than 4.0 GPA.
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