Driver Hits Cyclist, Runs, Gets Ticket

It seems that during a Critical Mass ride on the 6th, a cyclist was in front of a vehicle at a red light. When the light turned green, the cyclist was unable to pull forward due to traffic. Then the vehicle hit the cyclist from behind damaging their wheel. The cyclist got up uninjured, and the driver revved his engine. Cyclists confronted the driver who then drove away.

About a quarter of the ride took off in hot pursuit, riding flat-out as the SUV swerved onto the wrong side of K Street in an attempt to bypass stalled traffic, then turned north on 18th Street, broadside to two lanes of traffic in the attempt.

The SUV finally got stuck on a sidewalk tree box while trying to either cut a U-turn (to charge us perhaps?) or get onto the sidewalk to again bypass the stalled traffic that allowed us to catch up.

Riders swarmed the car, opened the doors and grabbed the driver (that's probably a bad idea). Someone called 911 (that's a good idea) and when the cops showed up 10 minutes later they handcuffed and search the cyclist who had grabbed the driver. The driver was never searched. The cyclist was released and the driver issued a citation. Not sure what the citation was.

So, this guy is still out there. Be careful

Comments

[Eric_W.]

Isn't there something wrong here? Assuming the driver only did half of what is described here, the police should have been aggressive with the driver not with the people doing a citizen's arrest.

The question is who does MPD protect and serve. It seems best if you never need them.

[Matt]

As much as I dream about delivering biker vigilante justice (I'm looking at you cab on Penn Ave this morning), I don't think the police did the wrong thing here (I mean first response, the driver should be at minimum covering damage to the bike). Given the choice to protect an angry mob of cyclists or a cornered driver, it makes sense that the police stepped in on behalf of the driver. Also, pulling someone out of their car is a greater offense than leaving the scene of an accident, citizens' arrest or not.

That said, it would have been pretty great if the police had never showed up and MadMax justice was delivered. Maybe drivers would pay more attention if they feared angry mob retribution at every turn.

[Washcycle]

I think you're mostly joking, but I've seen mob justice in person, and it is the most disturbing thing I've ever seen. I don't think we want to go down that path.

I think the real worry for me about pulling someone out of their car is that they may have a gun, or a knife or a tire iron. All were lucky that no one was hurt.

[Eric_W.]

"I think the real worry for me about pulling someone out of their car is that they may have a gun, or a knife or a tire iron. All were lucky that no one was hurt."

That was the point I was trying to bring across. A driver behaving so unresposnibly and without regard to toher people's safety might have other things on him that can hurt people.

I am *not* a fan of mobs, just so that is clear. In the end this was MPD as usual. Call it profiling since that is what it is.

[guez]

I'm with Matt (or at least him first paragraph) on this one. The police can't be expected to immediately figure out what happened earlier. (They aren't psychics, Eric W..) Their first job is to make sure that no one is harmed. Apparently, when things calmed down, they released the cyclist and cited the driver, as they should.

I find the assumption that this is "profiling" frankly offensive. This had nothing to do with pulling someone over simply because of their skin color, or even because they were riding a bike, for that matter. By grabbing the motorist, the cyclist in question was flirting with an assault charge. Now perhaps he had his reasons (I wasn't there), but you can hardly blame the police for initially treating it as a *potential* assault.

[Jack]

Whoa, what a bad thing it is to pull a driver from his car. While the driver behavior was horribly wrong and hit and run deserves a lot more than a citation, I would think pulling anyone from a car qualifies as assault. What about just getting the tag number and taking a photo, or surrounding the car? Lawlessness seems on the rise in D.C.

[guez]

It's worth pointing out that we can't assume that a citation is just a slap on the wrist. Citations can lead to serious fines, suspensions, even jail time.

[Kt]

I clicked the link to read the report and in the comments, someone who was actually there said that no one touched the driver.

They opened his door and grabbed his steering wheel to keep him from going anywhere.

[jp]

RE: Jack

I was there and there was no surrounding the guy as he WAS leaving the scene with you under his SUV or not. He deliberately hit that guy. The light turned green, the cyclist started to go and the guy gunned his engine, hitting him. I'm actually surprised the motorist stopped.

[guez]

KT,

Well, the author of the linked story (a Critical Mass participant, no less) was "actually" there too, and reported something different (grabbing). Eyewitness accounts are tricky. So who can blame the cops from erring on the side of caution?

[ibc]

"Pulling someone out of their car [who has just assaulted someone, and left the scene of an accident] is a greater offense than leaving the scene of an accident."

Pardon the fuck?

[Jack]

It's a great act of democracy to get out there and show our numbers and stand up for our legal rights by exercising those rights in full public view, even if (maybe because) it annoys ignorant and impatient drivers. But are there no guidelines for how participants should deal with the inevitable incident where a driver with anger issues goes beyond honking? Do people even discuss such things in advance? I'm thinking that if I go into the backwoods I'd want to know how best to deal with angry bears before I encounter one, especially if bears have lawyers.

[Washcycle]

I'm going to shock a lot of people and agree with guez here.

Showing up at a scene like that must be chaotic. I'd probably want to put someone in handcuffs just to get control of the situation. So I don't find that too offensive.

I wonder if the search was a real "search" or just a light pat down to make sure they didn't have a weapon. I seem to recall from jury duty that a pat down is standard procedure when cuffing someone.

It sounds like the officer was able to sort things out to know who to cite and who not to. Still good. And since we don't know what he was cited with it is possible it's as serious as it sounds like it should be.

It doesn't sound like anyone thinks the driver was drunk or high so I doubt a breathalyzer was in order. I'm not sure about searching the car or driver, but if that isn't SOP I'd rather they not - as I support civil liberties.

But it does strike me as...uncomfortable (at least) that a driver could behave so recklessly and then after talking to an officer and getting a ticket, drive away.

And I'm not sure Eric_W meant profiling (if so I agree that it's the wrong term), but more of a bias. I would buy that the officer showed up and had a bias against cyclists that caused him to cuff the cyclist first. I'm not saying that's what happened as I think it would depend on the situation, but it wouldn't shock me either.

Still, I hope this guy loses his license, gets a big fine and has to buy that cyclist a new carbon frame bike if his is ruined [assuming things went down as described above].

[guez]

Still, I hope this guy loses his license, gets a big fine and has to buy that cyclist a new carbon frame bike if his is ruined [assuming things went down as described above].

Agreed.

[Tom]

It looks like a case of "handbags at forty paces".

A lot of chest thumping not much damage. Play on.

[Eric_W.]

Let's call it bias then! Which I think we can all agree exists in the police force generally.

And I'm not sure Eric_W meant profiling (if so I agree that it's the wrong term), but more of a bias. I would buy that the officer showed up and had a bias against cyclists that caused him to cuff the cyclist first.