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 ...
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-
Your broad comment about Freepers’ general contempt for bicyclists is unfounded.
Most Freepers DO have unbridled contempt for the idiots who partcipate in the Critical Mass BS.
Could be coincindence that every year when these jerks do their thing, there is always an altercation of one kind of another, but I don’t think so.
The Critical Mass pussies are out there pushing buttons, then squeal like little girls when someone pushes a button back.
Cut-and-dried: the shove was deliberate and and excessive use-of-force.
I guess that raises the question, tho’ — exactly how would the cops safely arrest someone hooning around on a bicycle, short of knocking them off their bike?
These “Critical Mass” cyclists are a menace with the goal to break traffic laws and tie up traffic.
I say the cyclist should consider himself lucky that the cop got him before an angry New York motorist.
they aren’t smoking or eating transfats, and they’re not contributing to globull warming. that makes them ok.
OK I'm mean-spirited, a DINO, uncompassionate and no damn good, but...
Members of this dysfunctional legal gang, Critical Mass, deserve anything they get.
Like taggers and other criminal gangs, inconveniencing (or worse) tens of thousands is just their idea of fun. And they do it because --- they can.
This could be a new Olympic event. Points would be awarded for style and distance.
I think the Police Union should sue Bloomburg
for needlessly putting the officers in harms way
They had a Critical Mass in Seattle or Tacoma last week, I think. They are an organized group of thugs. I don’t condone the actions of the cop. He needs to not be a cop anymore, but I’d love to smash some of these thugs to the ground myself.
I ride a bicycle and I can understand why the drivers get frustrated. These thugs do not help matters.
It sure looks like the cop picked the guy to derail.
Maybe he was stopping him to warn him about the dangers of not wearing a helmet, which is probably a nanny-law in NYC.
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