StanSeven

cleaned this up a second time. No race baiting

mr_bill

He was charged with a misdemeanor AND a felony. A prosecutor already argued that he be held for bail for a misdemeanor AND a felony, and a judge agreed.

He was only released after posting bail for a misdemeanor AND a felony.

He was NOT ticketed for a traffic violation.

Can you do even a little research, for the fourth time, before you share your not so informed opinion again?

-mr. bill

Moishe

Oh, Bengal Cat, you're completely missing the point. Everything you said is besides the point. Here is the point:

livedarklions

For what it's worth, I think this should be in P&R. The discretion/selective prosecution issue with the two cyclists being treated so differently is just too wrapped up in the politics of race for this conversation to make much sense without it..

BengalCat

1. That's exactly what I pointed out in my last post, that he was charged with both a misdemeanor and a felony and I quoted from the linked OP article.

2. The hearing I was referring to is if you are prosecuted for a felony, (which he hasn't been so far), normally you have a preliminary hearing on the merits to determine if there is enough evidence to go forward with a prosecution/trial. It is called a preliminary hearing. It is separate and has nothing to do with the bail hearing that you are referencing.

3. I never said he was ticketed for a traffic violation. It is however still theoretically and legally possible that he might be given the police officer eyewitness, plus the video evidence. If it were to happen it would most likely be part of deal or arrangement worked out between Lopez and or his attorney in exchange for dropping or reducing all other charges or potential criminal consequences.

spelger

I used to say the same thing long ago...while driving in the Sierras to Reno from San Jose with my wife and 2 year old girl at about midnight a very impatient driver was tailgating with flashing high beams because my poor crv was unable to pass the other guy quite fast enough. We finally got past and merged over (which felt like forever, this guy was frighteningly close driving 70+ behind us) and he honked in a cursingly way as he blew past is. Less than 5 seconds later we were greeted with the sound of a siren and the flashing of lights as a cop that witnesses some part of it nabbed that jerk. That incident was pretty scary but from that time till now I am always so happy to see cops. I no longer say “there is never a cop when you need one” they have a hard job and simply can’t be everywhere.

WhyFi

Which is why being camped out at a remote "intersection" to protect the public from pelotons of menace is all the more silly.

spelger

It does seem silly assuming they were there for that purpose. For all I know they could have been there killing time having lunch.

GreenAnvil

That is a valid counterpoint; thanks for pointing that out. A similar situation happened to my wife although it has never happened to me. I agree that the number of good, honest and hardworking cops vastly outnumbers the bad ones. I generalized out of frustration, but I must stand corrected.

livedarklions

Is that reason supposed to be more or less "silly"?

Notso_fastLane

From the article:
If you look at the area on google maps, it's a fairly remote in terms of traffic speed or congestion, so the only reason the people would be complaining is probably because 1) they don't like cyclists, and 2) they're jerks.

It's pretty common, unfortunately, in retirement areas. I don't know why, but AZ, which is also a great place for biking in just about every other way, has communities of old, mostly white retired people who are absolutely hostile even to individual riders going through 'their streets'.

Paul Barnard

You never know quite how to take complaints. Some people trip offline at the mere sight of "Spandex." Some people believe cyclists should stay off of the road. Some believe that cyclists should immediately remove themselves from the roadway when they approach in their car.

Sometimes complaints are justified. If the neighbors were complaining about riders ignoring traffic control signs and devices, then this video would tend to support that claim. If complaints were about cyclists not paying attention to the whole of the traffic picture in some way, this video would tend to support that. When you don't acknowledge the presence of enforcement using lights and sirens until they are on your wheel, it is unlikely that you are aware of the traffic around you and are working cooperatively with the other roadway users.

Notso_fastLane

Yeah, it's terrible that these cyclists 'ran' the stop sign at a corner that is essentially a turn in a street, the other 2 directions go into almost nothing:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Va....1675542?hl=en

Old white people in retirement communities. It's bloody FL fer****sake. There's no reason for it. The fact that 2 cops had time to sit at a stop sign in a bloody driveway sorta tells you how boring/slow that it is in that area, yet they felt the need to not just ticket, but arrest and charge with a bloody felony?

WhyFi

Disagree. There's a lot of gray area between following the letter to the law and being safe and sensible. To me, nothing in the videos supports a lack of safety or respect for others.

burnthesheep

Shot. Not a doubt in my mind.

This **** doesn't happen this way in Europe, or the UK. The UK being the best example since they've got their fair shake of law breakers and violent criminals also.

He's on a bike, and he's got a car. Where the heck is he going to go? 90 seconds, that's barely enough time to even have any kind of "chase".

To me, bubbah is getting all control freaky. Cuss the kid out, expensive ticket, but c'mon............he going to chase down and arrest all his cop buddies that roll stop signs in their patrol cars and treat them the same way? Right............he wouldn't.

More and more I feel I need to go on Amazon and get a front/rear camera system for both my car and bike. Even if in the wrong, at least the video would show if something goes stupid.

Paul Barnard

Did you read my post? I said the video supported that the cyclists did not adhere to traffic laws and didn't seem well tuned into the traffic around them. You disagree with that?

Paul Barnard

The mods have asked several times to leave race out of this. Do you somehow think their requests don't apply to you?

Paul Barnard

I guess the thread is complete now. We have brought out Euro-envy.

eduskator

What a d*ck cop with a massive ego issue! That guy must have been very sad growing up.

Real crime fighter here! A true american hero

WhyFi

If you can't comprehend my post, there's no point in further discussion. Ta ta.

ZmanKC

Happened to me while in college in the early 70's. It was around 6:00 AM on a Sunday morning. I was riding through downtown Lincoln, Nebraska on my way to my summer job at a 24 hour grocery store.

I had attained a pretty decent speed on my lemon yellow Schwinn Varsity. I approached a stop sign, saw no one, which was unsurprising as there was essentially no traffic. I looked both ways and proceeded through the stop sign. Unbeknownst to me, one of Lincoln's finest was hiding behind a large sign. He pulled out and followed me with his lights and siren going. He pulled me over, listened to my explanation, agreed there was no traffic, and gave me a verbal warning, sending me on my way.

Had either or both of us copped, an attitude, the situation probably would have escalated. Fortunately, he was cool and so was I. No small feat as university students and police weren't necessarily the best of friends back then.

Paul Barnard

You see, my post was about riders adhering to the law and being tuned into their surroundings. Your disagreement was about safety and respect. Typically when people say they disagree and attempt to qualify that disagreement with unrelated content, that is likely to cause some confusion. Just a friendly FYI.

WhyFi

There you go, not comprehending again.

Paul Barnard

It is duly noted that as long as you comprehend your response in a discussion, that's all that matters.

Paul Barnard

Now with that useless exchange out of the way, I'll disagree with part of the disconnected content in your disagreement.

I will say that the video does show a lack of respect for others. I will qualify that by speaking directly to it, not via a tangent. A rider who respected laws and law enforcement would approximate a stop before rolling through a stop sign right in front of an LEO. A respectful rider will be tuned in enough to his surroundings to see an officer signalling to him and respond appropriately. A respectful rider will be tuned in enough to his surroundings to be able to hear and appropriately respond to sirens before the officer is on his wheel.

People who respect the laws, law enforcement and other road users don't bury their heads and plow forth oblivious to their surroundings.

Would you like to disagree with that with a comment about chocolate milkshakes?