livedarklions

I would say that I don't think a cop respectful of the safety needs of his community would have seized on this flimsy excuse to barrell down that road at high speed even with the sirens blaring.

Paul Barnard

I can agree with that. It ties back in with what I said when I entered this thread. Just a whole lot of stupid going on. Mainly on the side of our public servants.

I-Like-To-Bike

Apparently not.

eduskator

Lots of if, would, should have, could have, here. Also, lots of things we don't know such as:

-Did the cyclists see the 2 cops at all?
-Did they see the cop making a sign to pull over? When he made the sign with his hands, both cyclists were already engaged in the intersection. I don't see the cyclists looking at him in the video nor hear him yelling at them to stop.
I don't know for you, but I am always looking to where I am heading when I ride (or drive my car), not somewhere else
-Did they ignore the cop telling them to pull over on purpose?
-Was the high speed chase with sirens & lights flashing necessary or was it an adrenaline driven power-trip?

-Was the arrest necessary? IMO, a simple warning or a fine for failing to stop at a stop sign would have sufficed...

In their line of work, police officers must make judgment calls pretty quickly, sometimes on the spot. Since there was no health or safety risks, I believe that cop lacked judgment by making this call and putting a cyclist under arrest (without telling him his rights & stating the reason of his arrest). He was most likely in an adrenaline rush. Emotions can override rationality.

Theypeedonmyrug

I deplore your analysis. It’s deplorable. And dumb.

SClaraPokeman

I watched the video (1x) and because of the (lack) of the quality of the video at the beginning I can't definitively make a judgement as to whether the two "breakaway" riders on the training ride for sure saw the standing cop motioning and calling upon to them to stop and engage with him. It's possible that they didn't see him (or hear him as the rider did have an earbud in), however, I think it's more likely they just didn't think they needed to stop (when I was 18 I was capable of coming to dumb conclusions).

Yeah, the whole incident seems pretty stupid. I don't like the fact when the rider is asked by the cop if he stopped at the sign he responds "Yes" when it was quite clear he didn't even casually "roll it". However, charging him with felony fleeing seems to be a egregious overreach. Cop should have just told him, stop when I tell you to stop and issued him a citation, and unless Florida is like California (which doesn't distinguish fines between autos and bicycles) it isn't likely to have been a really expensive ticket. Even though I think waaaaay too many stop signs are pretty bogus, you simply can't act the way this kid did.

livedarklions

Burden of proof is on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intentionally fled, The stuff on the video is so far below that standard that it's absurd they went forward with the felony at all.

There's obviously such a huge distance between the stop sign and when they got pulled over that I wouldn't assume that the 18 year old even knew what stop sign the cop was referring to when the question was asked.

3alarmer 

.
...Wolverines !!

squirtdad

just because you do it doesn't make it right or safe there are fast lunch rides in my area that have been so disruptful (i.e large groups running reds on busy roads) that communities pushed for enhanced traffic enforcement. this is not good for anyone.

Notso_fastLane

Sure, and that falls under the category of 'rare exceptions'. This particular case, though, is obviously the other end of the spectrum.

DroppedChain

That is an unnecessary stop sign and IMO a citation trap. The officer overcharged the young man. I will be shocked if the DA prosecutes those charges

BengalCat

As I predicted:



https://sa18.org/press/id/577

BengalCat

Wow. People were lining up to opine on the OP. The posters ranged from reasonable to ranting to trolling about the incident and what it meant--who was to blame, etc.

Now it is officially concluded after due process. The response. The sound of crickets.

WhyFi

So.... what, exactly? You see this as some kind of indication that the justice system hunky-dory and that we should all cheer? Gimme a break. The fleeing and resisting charges never should have been levied in the first place. The kid shouldn't have had to spend a day in jail. The kid's dad shouldn't have had to cough up $8000+ to get his kid out of jail. That someone got it right after the fact doesn't change the huge systemic problems like profiling and ensuing overreaction. Dismissing is the least they could do.

Moishe

Still obtuse, from beginning to end.

Paul Barnard

It was a horrible waste of time and resources and served to further alienate enforcement from the public they serve. Due process could have been achieved without the associated damage.

Notso_fastLane

A shocking outcome.

And by shocking, I of course mean, the only sensible one and what most everyone here predicted.

What's not mentioned in that press release is the ridiculous over reaction by the officer, or any potential 'training' to remedy it.

Then again, there's probably no remedy for being an a-hole.

CB HI

DA lawyer speak for "please do not file a lawsuit for false arrest or discrimination.

No ticket or charges for one cyclist, ticket and arrest for the second cyclist. They deserve a lawsuit under the 14th amendment.

livedarklions

$8000 in legal fees later. It's absolutely a travesty that this man was ever charged with a felony. In this case, the process definitely was the punishment, and completely disproportionate to the "crime."

BengalCat

I agree with your analysis. It succinctly captures all that happened.

However, the $8000 you mention was bail money and that was either fully refunded directly or indirectly if a bail bondsman put up the bail.

Moishe

Just let it go

whitecat

Weird officers you have there over the pond. It seems to me he didnt have anything smarter to do then badger cyclists. Case over.

It is even completely unnecessary to talk about this. Clearly an issue of "I will make everything I can to you because I feel like it".

But, karmas a bia**h. So if a cargo truck flattens that officer in an freak accident, bet you he is going to ask himself "why me". Also bet you he wont remember what he did to that cyclist.

Chistophe516

This indirectly reminded me of the town(pop. 500) I moved from in Nov.'2019. In the last couple of years. They put speed bumps in the town. The speed bump that was placed halfway between two intersections. Was smart thinking. But the TWO speed bumps placed at the SAME INTERSECTION. Was absolute idiocy. On the part of the town government. While I have clip-less pedals. I told them. I was not going to get off my bike to walk it around the speed bumps. Because it would have taken longer to go through the intersection. Especially if the school bus or garbage contractor had been behind me. I would have received funny looks.

AndrewJB

I was following links and reading through articles regarding this whole debacle, and came across this GoFundMe page for the kids legal expenses...
https://www.gofundme.com/f/teenage-c...ustly-arrested

greatscott

First of all the cyclist kid was being a jerk. He runs the stop sign, looks at the cop when he calls for him to stop, decides to hell with the cop and keeps going. Then after he gets stops he decides to keep saying FU to the cop, while I don't see much in the way of resisting arrest going on, the kid was being a jackass to law enforcement on top of it, no respect whatsoever for police. Then the kid's father rides up, the kid says FU to the cop a couple of more times while the dad was there, if I was that dad I would have slapped my kid's face talking like that to a cop, but alas parents are weenies these days toward their kids which is why they don't respect authority.

Having said all of that, do I think the cop over reacted...yes I do, and the cop should have made it fair and wrote the other kid up as well, and maybe the whole crowd that rolled up later if they all ran the sign. Do I think the cop should lose his job? no, but maybe a unpaid leave of absence for a week will make him a bit more fairer in the future.

But I also wonder of the cop and that cyclist have some history, it seems like there was too much friction going on between those two to be a one time meeting.

No matter what some you think you have to obey the laws of the road just as any motorist would have to obey the laws UNLESS otherwise stated on a sign or some legal thing happened that allows cyclists to do something that motorists can't do. Obviously in the state where this video took place the law is you have to stop for a stop sign or a traffic light. A lot of you will baitch and complain that motorists hate you, well I'll tell you why they hate us riders is because we fling the vehicle code laws out the window when we ride and act like we're above the law then get all pissy when someone gets mad at us for for our bad actions! I see this everyday while either riding my bike or in my car how cyclist have no regard for the very laws they're suppose to be following. Act like law abiding citizens and maybe we'll have less motorists hating us due to the respect we'll get.