Bicyclist hit and killed by Sheriff in Calabasas
 

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/...-in-calabasas/


I can't not have that "Hope that I didn't know him" feeling...:(


*excuse the misspell please

Won't bring the rider back... but I hope the family sues the crap out of the sheriff dept., wins, and passes funds along to bicycle causes!

Also hope the officer does not get off with a "warning" or some b.s. light punishment.

I hope there was no cellphone use involved here. Many times I see them talking on their cellphones.

Same here. I hope the Sheriff's department doesn't just brush it off.

definitely should be looked into.. he needs to be treated like anyone else in this case.

I was thinking that there may be some distracted driving issue involved, also...

Probably gonna be " I didn't see him"

Whenever you sue a public agency, you're actually suing the taxpayers who support that agency. The result: less money for infrastructure, more money for seedy, ambulance-chasing lawyers.

Sure; fire, arrest, sue, and do what you like with the officer involved. But DON'T give my tax money to the victim's lawyers.

There was no mention in the linked article about which agency would be conducting the investigation. Is it not customary in such circumstances for an outside agency to conduct the investigation from the get-go to prevent loss of evidence or actual or the appearance of bias?

Looking at Google street view it looks like it might be a case of poor traffic design. It looks like they tried to narrow a standard traffic lane to accommodate a "bike lane." From the linked video story the collision happened up at the median on the right side of the picture. IMO most cars are going to move right to avoid clipping that raised curb on the median. That means some are going to end up crossing the white line of the bike lane.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/5923/r536.png

Alice, please post updates if you get them - this is obviously a terrible event.

The cyclist was IN THE BIKE LANE!???

Ugh.

Very sad incident.

I have a lot of experience with LA County sheriffs and unfortunately I seriously doubt the public will ever get the real story.

According to the article, the victim was a "prominent entertainment attorney". That means his family has the means to sue and to keep after the matter until they reach whatever level is necessary to receive a satisfactory answer. If the LA county sheriff doesn't believe speed, drugs, or alcohol was a factor then what does that leave? Was he looking at his laptop or cellphone?

Unfortunately, in our system, this is how it works. We, the people, elected the people who run these agencies, who in turn, appointed some idiots into positions they have no business in. Just look at some of the issues that has materialized while Lee Baca has been sheriff! And the electorate won't get rid of him, nor does he have the decency to resign/retire. So, the only way forward is to keep suing his office. And maybe the electorate will finally realize that Lee Baca is way over his head as sheriff and vote him out. For me, he has been an embarrassment as sheriff!

On another note, reading the comment that says drugs and alcohol were not believed to be issues in this accident makes me cringe. They should take and test blood samples from anyone involved in running another person down in broad daylight. Even if he/she is a cop.

The family will never get the truth. They will most likely get a settlement which will include a confidentiality agreement, no admission of guilt and no truth about the incident.

haha. Did you read the article where it said the deputy wont even be interview until Monday ?

Are you familiar with how internal affairs "interviews" are conducted ? Read up on the union rules for deputies. He wont be interviewed. He will have a union lawyer give a one sentence statement. Then the sheriffs officer will start its REAL investigation. That will include digging up all dirt on the dead cyclist.

No other deputies will be interviewed. Union rules don't permit them to be interviewed until at least 72 hours after any incident. They have to be provided with all information gathered from the investigation and they can refuse to be interviewed.

From what I am reading online it appears the sheriffs smear machine is already out in force posting that the cyclist was weaving all over the road and creating unsafe conditions for other motorists.

Rider was an attorney.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/...-in-calabasas/

And here's another part of the problem -- the way some of the media report incidents like this: Ventura County Star: Bicyclist Dies After Crashing Into Patrol Car [url]

In this typical piece of sloppy journalism, the editors don't even bother to figure out if that is a physical possibility.

ass backwards

Victims lawyers should work for free?

It's not sloppy journalism. It's the hand of the LEO PR machine at work. About 10 years ago, we had two East San Diego County Sheriff deputies who died when they drove off the road in separate incidents in the same month. Both http://www.calamarichris.com/smiley/airquotes.gifdied in the line of duty while chasing suspected drunken drivers.http://www.calamarichris.com/smiley/airquotes.gif.

Yes, some of the funds may come from tax payer coffers, but gov't departments all have insurance to cover these incidents.

Their local CBS affiliate was saying the cyclist died "after a collision between a cyclist and a patrol car" or some such as everyone was equally at fault and/or the cyclist felt invincible somehow and decided to challenge rather than get out of the way of the car. Time will tell but I'm not liking the looks of things so far.

I'm glad you people aren't jumping to conclusions before the investigation.

The investigation will be conducted by whom? Is the group in question more allied with covering their butts rather than the truth? Are biases against the victim? More then likely this will end with a slap on the wrist for the deputy and the facts of the case being obfuscated in a smoke screen of at least deceit.. at best untruths.