One for the good guys
November 15, 2013 § 45 Comments
One of the basic rules of engagement is “Know your enemy.”
The asshat who has been regularly buzzing our New Pier Ride group on Tuesdays and Thursdays assumed that we were just a bunch of defenseless schmos. He assumed wrongly, at least about the “defenseless” part.
Once our New Pier Ride page on FB lit up with the video of his dangerous antics and the history of his harassing behavior, a few things happened. One of those things was that folks within the peloton made certain calls to certain people. Another of those things was this: At least one NPR rider who occasionally shows up is, shall we say, very highly placed, very anonymous … and very much the worst possible person you could want to fuck with.
The combination of phone calls to the police complaining of asshat, and of engaging Worst Possible Person You Could Want To Fuck With resulted in this on today’s edition of the NPR: Cops on motorcycles. Cops in unmarked cars. Cops hidden behind the bushes running radar.
Cops who knew exactly what they were looking for.
When asshat got ready to do his morning troll, he got a very nasty surprise. Before he could even get started, he’d been identified and pulled over. I don’t know exactly what the message was, but it went something like this: “We’re watching you and we know who you are. You’d better drive more carefully.”
Strange to say, but today we didn’t get buzzed.
Now, I’m not a betting man, but here’s a wager I’ll make. Asshat’s buzzing days are over.
Any takers?
Cycling in the South Bay 
Excellent! I suspected that you might have a few folks with “access” to stop this clown.
And he is a clown.
Awesomeness!
With a touch of awesome sauce.
So very cool
Mr. Asshat might disagree …
[…] One for the good guys | Cycling in the South Bay. […]
Let’s hope that longhorn remains a steer.
He was a steer from day one.
Cool! Curious what the police thought of the ride & the turn arounds. Anybody speak with them after the Sprunt?
No one saw them pull the dude over. But I’ve been advised that he was stopped and advised.
I’m just glad I don’t have to carry that spark plug anymore. The extra weight was keeping me off the front.
Check.
Now that’s a “rest of the story” I can really dig!
Finally, right?
To bad we dont have CPSP vid of his little chat with the authorities. I would have loved to see the look on that fuckers face when he got swarmed by the cops!
Dont most of the patrol vehicles have Police “go pro’s” on them? Maybe the highly placed person might be able to get a copy for private showings.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
Think he was just pulled over by one officer. I’ll be interested to see how wide of a berth he gives us on Tuesday.
I just did my usual commute to lax via Westchester pky. I gotta tell ya I’m at work and still have a smile on my face. That just brightened my day so much.
Good!
“Gloat only momentarily” (keep your karma clean). Easy for me as a distant reader to remark that the really important thing here is, the police (very much including the MC officers, who are a cadre unto themselves) were enlisted in a pro-bicyclist legal action– with strong “socio-political overtones”, assignment of righteousness (“going about our lawful business”) and all of it. This is going to be good for this ride specifically and good for area cyclists, no doubt about it.
I hope the driver mans up and there is a decent and meaningful conversation in the near future between parties involved.
I’m trying and I’m sure not very good at it yet:
http://www.youaretrulyloved.com/enlightenment/the-buddha-teaches-a-lesson-on-forgiveness/
(Please note especially how the issue of “cowardice” is dealt with)
The real bottom line is that the problem was dealt with in a way that no one got hurt. This is best kind of prevention.
Thanks
It was a team effort, as they say.
How is it that cyclists need somebody with substantial influence to get ths kind of action when the law is on our side? We’re on recognized vehicles, with rights and responsibilities and yet cannot get the same treatment as cagers. Nowhere near it!
When someone on a bike gets hit today riding within the law and the driver isn’t at fault, again, it’s the same bad treatment all over again.
I’m genuinely glad the driver has been identified. That’s one “battle” win.
We live in a society dominated by cars and the people who drive them. That’s how.
The power of taking action is amazing. Thanks to all involved for protecting our brothers & sisters on 2 wheels.
It was a collective effort, to be sure.
Good job!
We’ll see if he learned his lesson. I’m thinking he did.
Sorry to be Negative Nellie, but AH’s course of prior conduct is unreasonable to an absurd degree. So expecting him to behave reasonably now, after you called the cops on him is silly. He won’t do anything for the next couple of NPR’s, but after that, ya’ll ought to be on heightened alert. AH will take another run at you when he thinks the heat has died down. And he will be pissed because in his warped mind, you escalated things. I’m afraid this ain’t over. I hope I’m wrong. Stay safe.
Having a record of a warning will be huge if he ever hurts someone. It put a guy behind bars a few years ago.
Very huge. But if warnings like that worked on crazies like this guy (or Dr. Thompson, the Mandeville Canyon dude), there would be so many fewer dead spouses, exes, co-workers, etc. AH isn’t going to get away with it, but that’s no deterrent to crazies like him. Rage is rarely reasonable. AH bent over in a prison getting what he deserves won’t heal the broken bones or bring back the dead. Just watch your back.
I agree that record of previous offense is crucial here. After all, how many times drivers get away with killing cyclists, when these actions get dismissed as simple “accidents”? With previous record of harassing cyclists enough to earn reputation and a citation, it is much more difficult to claim this.
Exactly. There’s another point, which is this: Dr. Thompson was never stopped and admonished by the police. His prior road rage was reported, but he was never stopped. This asshat knows he’s under surveillance. I think there’s a big difference, but we’ll see.
It felt good to see the LAPD out and know that they were there looking out my safety (and everyone else) as a cyclist. Thanks to all who made it happen.
Yes, they were exemplary.
And I am sure he will tell his friends. He might be angry but he now knows there will be a penalty for fucking with cyclists. Nice outcome.
Everyone working together.
I was hoping for the ‘juvenile/brick/windscreen’ scenario myself, but your way is probably better.
That’s debatable.
It’s a shame really that it takes all that effort just to get one ***** to behave sensibly on the roads isn’t it. Since when did we get to the point when reckless driving became so normalised that people fel they can use a vehicle as a weapon to intimidate. ????
It’s been this way since I began riding, in 1982.
Sweet! Nicely done.
and, yes, I know I’m way behind…I’ll try to catch up this weekend.