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Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial

nealhe

Nov 1, 09 8:04

Post #1 of 9 (746 views)

Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial	Can't Post

Hello All,

http://www.latimes.com/...page=2&track=rss

Excerpt:

The two were traveling about 30 mph -- the speed limit on the road -- when they heard a car honking behind them. Behind the wheel of a red Infiniti was Thompson, a pudgy, veteran emergency room physician who had lived on the road since 1987. Wearing blue scrubs, Thompson was heading to work at Beverly Hospital in Montebello.

The cyclists testified that they began maneuvering to ride single file. The Infiniti sped past within a foot of Peterson's handlebars and the driver shouted to them to ride single file. Peterson swore at him. "He was acting like a bully," Peterson told jurors.

What happened next remains in dispute.

Peterson and Stoehr say the Infiniti pulled in front of them and braked hard. Thompson, who contends that the cyclists never moved into single file, said he felt uncomfortable behind them so he drove wide around the riders and pulled to the curb at what he thought was a safe distance. He denied slamming on his brakes.

What is beyond dispute is that Peterson's bicycle hit the car's bumper, flinging him through the rear window.

"It felt like a wall," Peterson said. His two front teeth were broken. The impact and glass shards nearly tore his nose from his face, requiring reconstructive surgery. Blood spattered the sedan's trunk. Stoehr landed in front of the car and suffered a separated shoulder.

Thompson called 911. A recording of the call picked up Thompson telling one of the cyclists: "Get your bike out of the road, why don't you?"

The doctor told the 911 operator about the profanity the cyclists yelled at him. "I slammed on my brakes. They went into me."

The operator asked if the injuries were serious.

"Not really, but they'll tell you that," Thompson replied.

When LAPD Officer Robert Rodriguez arrived, Thompson told him that he came across three cyclists -- not two -- riding alongside one another and shouted at them to ride single file. The cyclists flipped him off and yelled back, the doctor said.

"I passed them up and stopped in front of them to teach them a lesson," Thompson said, according to Rodriguez. "I'm tired of them. I've lived here for years. and they always ride like this."

On the stand, Thompson denied making the incriminating remarks.

But Rodriguez insisted that he knew what he had heard.

"The statement was so shocking . . . that it just burned into my brain," he testified.

Thompson's attorney implied that the cyclists were partly to blame for the crash. Citing reports from expert witnesses, he said the riders had enough room to avoid the car.

Prosecutors say the collision was the latest in a series of aggressive confrontations Thompson has had with cyclists on the same road.

Among them was a strikingly similar episode four months earlier in which two other cyclists accused Thompson of trying to run them off the road and slamming on his brakes in front of them.

"He drove like a raging maniac," Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Stone told jurors.

Thompson disputed the account, saying he and a passenger felt threatened. He told jurors that he honked and told the riders to ride single file but that one "shot me the shaft," so he stopped to get their names. When one cyclist hit his car, he drove away.

"I was frightened," he said. "They were acting crazy."

Thompson testified that he and neighbors agreed they needed to identify misbehaving cyclists. With a photograph of the offenders, the homeowners' association could contact their cycling club to complain.

When he encountered the cyclists on the July 4 ride, Thompson said, he decided to stop and take a photo of them.

"I have spent my whole life trying to take care of people," Thompson told jurors, "not hurt them."

jack.leonard@latimes.com

Bullseye

Nov 1, 09 10:19

Post #2 of 9 (645 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [nealhe] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I felt saver on the bike 20 years ago when we were all riding around with ~20" frame pumps with the cast metal Campy presta head. If a driver got out of line, you didn't need to use your head to crack some glass.

Canadian

Nov 1, 09 11:38

Post #3 of 9 (562 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [nealhe] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thompson sounds a little out of control to me. A lot of pent up aggression there.

jackmott

Nov 1, 09 11:53

Post #4 of 9 (534 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [Canadian] [In reply to]	Can't Post

if Thompson gets off completely, how should we torment him with vigilante justice?

pie to the face every day when he gets to work?

cali cylicsts can take turns each day

lol
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NamssoB

Nov 1, 09 13:54

Post #5 of 9 (411 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [nealhe] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I don't know how you can 'dispute' the laws of physics. A cyclist traveling fast enough to go through a rear window proves the car drastically slowed down after passing them. At a MINIMUM, it proves negligence (a safe and non-negligent driver would make sure that drastic decrease in speed didn't occur), and based on reports from 911 and the officer on the scene, it was a purposeful act of harm.

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There are 10 types of people - those who understand binary, and those who don't.

aquaman1

Nov 1, 09 15:03

Post #6 of 9 (319 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [jackmott] [In reply to]	Can't Post

group rides through his neighboorhood, ending at his office int he morning,

or office to his neighboorhood in the evening

....

Nov 1, 09 15:08

Post #7 of 9 (310 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [NamssoB] [In reply to]	Can't Post

'I felt threatened'...WTF??? you in your 2 ton car were threatened by 3 bike riders who can't go any faster than say 35mph all out for 200yds? I hope people don't buy this crap.

ChrisM

Nov 1, 09 15:08

Post #8 of 9 (309 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [jackmott] [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To:

if Thompson gets off completely, how should we torment him with vigilante justice?

pie to the face every day when he gets to work?

cali cylicsts can take turns each day

lol

The odd thing is, when this first happened, a few folks went looking for him, and there are actually TWO Christopher Thompson, M.D.'s living up on Mandeville Canyon. So some were going to the wrong house (not sure if/what people did)

But the LA cycling community realizes that a little discretion will be received more favorably by the general community than aggression. LA is for the most part a somewhat bike friendly place, but drivers still get pissed.

Truthfully, convicted or not, my riding in LA won't change a whit. I have nothing riding on this trial other than wanting to see justice served.

I think the nunchaku is the weapon of choice on ST because it's the only one you can use with a fairly high chance to hit yourself without wanting to - Francois

(This post was edited by ChrisM on Nov 1, 09 15:09)

furiousferret

Nov 1, 09 15:18

Post #9 of 9 (293 views)

Re: Cyclists have a lot riding on L.A. driver's trial [ChrisM] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Its pretty obvious the guys guilty, in addition to every physical fact pointing to the fact he's lying. No one can ever be intimidated by cyclists. Maybe if they were Clydes, even that's a stretch.

Hopefully the guy burns. LA is a dangerous place to drive, and letting him off would give others a 'free pass' to act careless around cyclists.