This past weekend there was a demonstration in Times Square from the group Critical Mass. A group that apparently tries to get people to ride bicycles.
Well, rookie cop Patrick Pogan felt they were getting out of hand and arrested one of the demonstrators. The report read that the cyclist was:
I added the italics.
Got that? Seems reasonable. Law enforcement needs to curtail to unruly. Then video appeared of the incident. See if you see any discrepancies between the report and what actually happened.
Officer Pogan has since been disciplined.
Video can also be seen here.
Well, rookie cop Patrick Pogan felt they were getting out of hand and arrested one of the demonstrators. The report read that the cyclist was:
Obstructing vehicular traffic by riding defendants bicycle in the center lane while traveling southbound on 7th Avenue at above named location and while weaving defendants bicycle in and out of the center lane of traffic, thereby forcing multiple vehicles to stop abruptly or change their direction in order to avoid hitting the defendant. Deponent further states that the defendant's above described conduct caused public disturbance and inconvenience in that it caused disruption of the normal flow of traffic. Deponent further states that upon instructing the defendant to cease the above described conduct, the defendant steered the defendant's bicycle in the direction of the deponent and drove defendant's bicycle into deponents body, causing deponent to fall to the ground and causing deponent to suffer lacerations on deponents forearms.
I added the italics.
Got that? Seems reasonable. Law enforcement needs to curtail to unruly. Then video appeared of the incident. See if you see any discrepancies between the report and what actually happened.
Officer Pogan has since been disciplined.
Video can also be seen here.
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Oh yeah, they do that in Seattle too. Seattle cops are pretty laid back, though. It's the motorists you want to worry about, if anyone participated in Seattle's Critical Mass, I was the man standing in the traffic jam on 4th Avenue standing on the roof of a '75 Volvo wagon in a three-piece suit waving a large axe. I keep the axe in the car for emergencies, comes in handy more often than you'd think.
*afraid to say anything*
Uh, okay.
You behave yourself with the axe there, Sofar.
Well that was a pretty good hit. He could have 'tased' him I guess.
Or Swayzed him. Our boy would have slammed him with a witty reposte, forcing the evil-doer to dismount, sit on the sidewalk in Times Square, and weep.
This is true.
Swayze ... get him.
for us schmucks following this story via iPhone it helps to have a link to the YouTube video so our browser can figure out how to show it
I added the YouTube link to the bottom of the post Doug. That's how much I love you.
JW
first in SF critical Mass is almost militant, and they bang on cars and run over pedestrians, so I dont blame the cop..
second, did anyone else notice that it looks like that somebody takes the dudes bike at the end?
Hmmm. I just don't understand how that report could differ from the video. It just doesn't make any sense. I'll bet a clerk at the police department must have been playing a little joke on the rookie officer. Haha! That's a good one! I'll bet they all had a good laugh.
I really don't know much about Critical Mass. In this case, they just seem to be riding bikes on 7th Avenue with no traffic.
If anyone has more insight on the group, please inform us.
I bet you're right Bill. Has to be a little rookie hazing.
Denver has had it's Critical Mass rides too. Afaik they have been peacable but probably annoying to some drivers.
Don't know about NY but Denver could use a few more bike lanes. Fort Collins and Boulder have them in relative abundance and they rock.
I'm a cop.
Pogan is Piece of Shit. It's morons like him that make me look bad. He should be permanently fired. And as for the Police Union that is defending him, even in light of the video, they are just as bad and it makes them look like fools. It's funny, it seems that he closer a police department is to the ocean, the worse the cops are. LA is the worst
Thank you my friend.
I'd like to say that I am well aware that this joker is in a very small minority. I love the NYPD. I think they are dedicated and brave.
This is an isolated incident.
Please be careful out there.
Johnny Wright
The Critical Mass douchebags made two of my cousins and I miss not one, but two fucking LIRR trains in a row. I was coming from the PATH and the entrance to the 1/9, which I would have swiped my MetroCard to get through just to get to the LIRR was fucking closed. It was a fucking mess, total fucking mess... My Father had to come get us at the Bayside LIRR station (the wedding was in Queens) and we all missed dinner. I wasn't even at the wedding long enough to get drunk off the free booze and my perfectly planned outfit was a disaster.
The fucking rally makes no sense what so ever to me at all. Did you guys know that bikers kill, yes, kill a handful of pedestrians a year because they just don't give a fuck and they suck?
My blood pressure is rising, I can't deal with this right now. I'm gunna look for happier posts.