Doctor sentenced to 5 years in prison for assaulting bicyclists in Brentwood

LA Times ^

[Chet 99]

A doctor convicted of assaulting two bicyclists by slamming on his car brakes after a confrontation on a narrow Brentwood road was sentenced today to five years in prison.

Christopher Thompson, wearing dark blue jail scrubs, wept as he apologized to the injured cyclists shortly before he was sentenced.

"I would like to apologize deeply, profoundly from the bottom of my heart," he told them, his right hand cuffed to a court chair.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington called the case a "wake-up call" to motorists and cyclists and urged local government to provide riders with more bike lanes.

[lmarie373]

Will there ever be a world were bicyclist and car drivers coexist harmoniously?? :( We need to learn how to share the bumpy,broken down streets in Ca.

[eclecticEel]

Bicyclists are a menace on the road. They never stop at signs and lights when they’re supposed to, they just roll right on through - drives me insane.

[buccaneer81]

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington called the case a "wake-up call" to motorists and cyclists and urged local government to provide riders with more bike lanes.

Nothing like a judge with an agenda.

What a joke. In my state, the bikers would have been guilty of failing to keep an assured clear distance.

[Monterrosa-24]

Sure screeching brakes can make a cyclist jump through his skin or even run off the road an wreck but I’m more worried about the type of driver that never hits his brakes for a cyclist.

[Melas]

I’m glad I live in Texas then. We too have a history of jailing motorists who hit cyclists.

[dragnet2]

Bicyclists are a menace on the road. They never stop at signs and lights

We all see that, every single day, yet they expect everyone to be courteous to them.

[dr_lew]

Will there ever be a world were bicyclist and car drivers coexist harmoniously??

I think there's a larger lesson here. How could a doctor, of all people, act so irrationally?

[doorgunner69]

But the cyclists said the doctor was acting aggressively from the start. They said he honked loudly from behind them and passed by dangerously close as they moved to ride single file before he pulled in front and braked hard. A police officer told jurors that shortly after the crash that Thompson said he slammed on his brakes in front of the riders to "teach them a lesson." Prosecutors said Thompson had a history of run-ins with bike riders, including a similar episode four months before the crash when two cyclists told police that the doctor tried to run them off the road and braked suddenly in front of them. Neither of the riders was injured.

Waiting for the spandex haters to show up.............

[doorgunner69]

Whoops, they are here already..............

[kcvl]

A doctor convicted of assaulting two bicyclists by slamming on his car brakes after a confrontation on a narrow Brentwood road was sentenced today to five years in prison.

Yet O J gets off after cutting his ex-wife's throat from ear to ear almost cutting off her head!

[buccaneer81]

We too have a history of jailing motorists who hit cyclists.

The cyclists hit him from behind.

Most bike riders are elitist dirtbags who never obey the rules of the road.

[lmarie373]

I understand but there was already some tensions between the cyclist and the motor drivers in that city I am not in any way defending the doctors actions. I also find some bicyclist act like they own the road.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Umm, didn’t da Juj just finish blaming the driver? Who cares about bike lanes.

[dragnet2]

How could a doctor, of all people, act so irrationally?

There are a lot of corrupt doctors out there. They treat people all the time that require no treatment at all....Then charge the insurance carriers....Happens all the time.

[kcvl]

Happens all the time.

If you have proof you should turn them in.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Doc zoomed in front of the bikes then cut them off too quickly for them to stop.

[buccaneer81]

Waiting for the spandex haters to show up.............

Reporting for duty. 90% of the bike riders in my area are complete a**holes.

[dragnet2]

Are you suggesting this doesn’t happen *thousands* of times a day in this country?

[Telepathic Intruder]

As a bicyclist, I make it a point to yield control of the road to cars. However, there are always drivers who think bicyclists don’t yield enough control, or have had confrontations in the past. There are some very few drivers out there that would like to run over a bicyclist while no one is watching, which always worries me a little.