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Doctor sentenced to 5 years in prison for assaulting bicyclists in Brentwood
LA Times ^

Posted on 01/10/2010 9:51:23 PM PST by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: activistjudge; bicyclists; criticalmass; roadrage
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To: JLS
So this MD showed immediate remorse and did not come of up with a plausible defense like a cute little kitty ran in front of me and I had to stop suddenly?

I don't think he showed remorse immediately. His first comment to the cops was that his did it to teach them a lesson. When he called 911, the driver, an emergency room doctor, told the dispatcher that the cyclist's injuries weren't serious, even though the man's nose was nearly sliced off and the trunk of the doctor's car was covered in blood. It was probably when they were picking the cyclists teeth out of his backseat and he realized that he was in serious trouble that he began his show of remorse.

For this show of honesty and remorse he gets five years in the slammer?>

No, he's getting five years in the slammer for being convicted of six felony counts including assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, reckless driving causing specified bodily injury, and mayhem.

He'd also had two earlier incidents, with less drastic consequences, but the DA's office had declined to press charges those times.

101 posted on 01/11/2010 11:02:17 AM PST by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: buccaneer81

Not arrogance, it is the law. You migth want to look into your won laws because unless they specifically prohibit it then it is you who are in the wrong.


102 posted on 01/11/2010 11:05:00 AM PST by chris_bdba
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To: fireman15

Yep it’s true. We used to belong to a cyclist group here locally and out of 50 people only 2 were liberalsand they eventually dropped out because we ruined their ride. *eyeroll*


103 posted on 01/11/2010 11:07:00 AM PST by chris_bdba
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To: stillonaroll
The bike path is heavily used by people jogging, walking their dogs, pushing strollers.

Which is why serious cyclist avoid the bike paths. The one time my wife was injured riding her bike was on a bike path. She was going dead slow, but a little kid on his bike erratically shot across her path and so avoid him she crashed her bike, cracking her elbow. The kid's father didn't even acknowledge her. On the street, at least everyone's going the same direction.

104 posted on 01/11/2010 11:07:09 AM PST by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: doorgunner69

Well, I despise spandex, but it’s because of the way mu butt looks when I wear it.

I have been on both sides of this equation, and have seen plenty of wrong from both directions. People, plainly stated, can be idiots.


105 posted on 01/11/2010 11:35:39 AM PST by MortMan (Stubbing one's toes is a valid (if painful) way of locating furniture in the dark.)
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep
"His first comment to the cops was that his did it to teach them a lesson."

I come into contact with physicians fairly frequently. There are some whose egos are inflated to the point where they think they can do no wrong. Many times we have been taught “lessons” by a doctor with poor listening skills who is not on-scene. I have been to multiple incidents where a physician has insinsted that we restrain a person who is alert and oriented so we can transport them against their will. If we refuse, we are often instructed to exaggerate or lie to the patient to get them to agree to be transported. Often this is for someone who had some sort of indigestion which was relived by burping or farting before we arrived. Some doctors feel that their decision is absolute despite what we or the patient might think or say.

106 posted on 01/11/2010 11:43:59 AM PST by fireman15 (Check your facts before making ignorant statements.)
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To: Iscool

Report the cyclists’ plate numbers and confiscate their license and bill their insurance. oh wait. But other than that, they are “the same as cars”.


107 posted on 01/11/2010 11:47:41 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Al Gore was more concerned with the evil influence of heavy metal than that of radical Imam.)
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To: buccaneer81
Most bike riders are elitist dirtbags who never obey the rules of the road.

Interesting attitude to have about children under the age of 15, who make up the vast majority of bicyclists.

108 posted on 01/11/2010 11:51:17 AM PST by green iguana
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To: dr_lew
How could a doctor, of all people, act so irrationally?

Easily. Many doctors are arrogant little weasels.

109 posted on 01/11/2010 11:52:20 AM PST by humblegunner
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To: fireman15

I don’t mind ALL bike riders, but several encounters with critical mass anarchists (including some who hit my car while they were driving drunkardly) and dope dealers on bikes busy texting into oncoming traffic and those who run stop signs in neighborhoods all add up.


110 posted on 01/11/2010 11:53:27 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Al Gore was more concerned with the evil influence of heavy metal than that of radical Imam.)
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To: green iguana
Interesting attitude to have about children under the age of 15, who make up the vast majority of bicyclists.

Give me a break. You know very well this is a discussion about adult bike riders who knowingly disobey the laws meant to keep them safe.

111 posted on 01/11/2010 11:53:51 AM PST by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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To: Iscool
What about cyclists hitting motorists, as is the case here?

When a driver cuts in front of you and immediately slams on his brakes causing you to run into him, the driver is at fault, whether you are on a bike or in another car.

112 posted on 01/11/2010 11:55:33 AM PST by green iguana
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To: Telepathic Intruder

As a driver, I make sure cyclists have a LOT of room. You can never tell what they’re going to do. Most of ‘em don’t use hand signals or anything else.


113 posted on 01/11/2010 11:59:25 AM PST by Little Ray (Madame President sounds really good to me...)
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To: dragnet2; kcvl
Are you suggesting this doesn’t happen *thousands* of times a day in this country?

In a country of 300 million, almost anything that you can possibly imagine will happen *thousands* of times a day in this country.

114 posted on 01/11/2010 12:01:39 PM PST by Polybius
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To: 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.

Sure. Drive through downtown Boston on any weekday and see the happy, smiling cyclists and drivers waving cheerfully to one another and saying, "No. Please. You go first..."

115 posted on 01/11/2010 12:07:08 PM PST by pabianice
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To: dr_lew

Doctors get angry too, ya know. Hopefully not while their mitts are in my peritoneal cavity.


116 posted on 01/11/2010 12:07:51 PM PST by domenad (In all things, in all ways, at all times, let honor guide me.)
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To: dr_lew
I can understand how people might feel frustrated and angry being stuck behind bicyclists on the road.

There are certainly people who get frustrated and angry being stuck behind other drivers. I've seen a greater percentage of drivers who cut people off, drive through crosswalks while pedestrians are in them, illegally pass on the right or drive in the shoulder (let's not even talk about speeding) - because laws be damned, they're in a hurry!

The main reason drivers get more irritated at bicyclists than at other drivers is because 1.) bicyclists are more notable, due to their infrequency, so they are more noticed; 2.) roads are supposed to belong to cars, not humans trying to use them for other purposes.

Remember "The Straight Story," about Alvin Straight, who rode his lawnmower 240 miles to visit his ill brother? He was subject to a lot of abuse - and he was driving in the shoulder. (Somebody torched his house in 2007, because they didn't like what he'd done, according to this news story. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/news/16181)

All I can figure is that their high blood pressure will get these guys if they aren't killed in an accident first. Let's hope they just don't take anyone else with them.

117 posted on 01/11/2010 12:16:05 PM PST by worst-case scenario (Striving to reach the light)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra
Been there and done that on a bike - all except crashing the light. I obey all of the traffic laws. The problem is, very often, not the biker. I am constantly waving people by me that are too timid to drive by. I am sure that is at least part of your described problem.

I'm out there to ride, not to get in the way of drivers. If I see that a car at a cross street waiting on me I will get out of the saddle and sprint. It may only gain them couple of seconds, but good will is involved. When a driver shows me courtesy I wave to thank them.

Perhaps I am fortunate. I drive and ride in an area where both the drivers and riders almost all behave very well. I have never seen any of the bad rider and bad driver behavior described here. I am sure it happens, but I have not experienced it. And that included a commute to work on a road w/ about 6" of shoulder to the right of the white. Heck, I had people who would honk hello because they were used to seeing me.

Sounds to me like too many liberals ride bikes...

118 posted on 01/11/2010 12:43:31 PM PST by 70times7 (Serving Free Republics' warped and obscure humor needs since 1999!)
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To: fireman15

OK, here’s a fact:

I came within inches of being run down by a cyclist not long ago as a pedestrian. The a*****e came flying up between two rows of cars waiting at a light and blew through the red light doing about 25-30 mph. I jumped back just in time to avoid being clobbered. I was crossing legally at an intersection, with the “walk” light lit. The cyclist disappeared into the distance.

If that bastard had hit me, I would have been injured to some degree, though it’s hard to say how badly.

My medical expenses would have been covered by my insurance. It should have been his insurance, as I did nothing wrong, and he broke several laws.

Suppose I had been carrying a laptop, and it was smashed when it hit the pavement. He should be the one to pay, not me.

So, your claim that the cyclist is never to blame is simply wrong.

As a motorist, I’ve had cyclists fly out of side streets right in front of me causing me to swerve or brake to avoid them. Fortunately, I’ve never hit one of them, and I’ve never been in an accident because of this problem. But the possibility exists.

Since cops almost never ticket these people for their infractions, there needs to be some other way to get their attention.

Requiring cyclists to have mandatory liability insurance (it doesn’t have to cost anything close to what a motorist has to pay) at least makes them think that there are consequences for their actions.


119 posted on 01/11/2010 12:47:01 PM PST by Fresh Wind ("...a whip of political correctness strangles their voice"-Vaclav Klaus on GW skeptics)
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To: Melas

Technically, the bikers hit the motorist who came to a stop.


120 posted on 01/11/2010 1:06:26 PM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Nothing to see here. Move along.)
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