An ex- New York Police Department officer caught on film apparently pushing a cyclist of his bike on a Critical Mass ride has been acquitted of assault.
Patrick Pogan, aged 24, was found guilty of on the count of offering a false instrument of filing, however, after earlier giving a different version of events to those that appeared on video footage, and could face up to four years in prison. It took the jury at Manhattan’s State Supreme Court three days to reach its verdict.
The incident took place in Times Square on a Critical Mass ride in July 2008 and attracted attention after a video was posted to YouTube, attracting more than 2.5 million views, apparently showing Pogan pushing the cyclist, 31-year-old Christopher Long, off his bike.
The bike rider was himself charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and attempted assault, although all those charges were subsequently dropped.
During the trial, Mr Pogan said that the incident had arisen because Mr Long failed to respond to a request to stop, and then looked as though he was about to “use the force of the bicycle” against him, according to a report in The New York Times.
Mr. Long, who had earlier received a settlement of $65,000 from New York City as a result of the incident, was subject to a lengthy cross-examination which focused on his habitual smoking of marijuana – although he told the court that he’d knocked the weed on the head until the trial was resolved – as well as his poor driving record.
That included causing the death of a pedestrian while driving in 2001, the same year in which he was discharged by the army for his drug habit.
Help us to fund our site
We’ve noticed you’re using an ad blocker. If you like road.cc, but you don’t like ads, please consider subscribing to the site to support us directly. As a subscriber you can read road.cc ad-free, from as little as £1.99.
If you don’t want to subscribe, please turn your ad blocker off. The revenue from adverts helps to fund our site.
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Don't forget "notorious" roads, and "dangerous" roads.
I've thought about using an old phone as a handlebar-mounted GPS device. Less problem to lose, and isn't draining or otherwise risking your main...
They already have a record number of officers but what they lack is 1) leadership 2) an effective strategy that starts with "low level" crime 3)...
Unfortunately not having a subscription I can't see the important bits, like the size of the effect, the experimental design etc. ......
I think the problem with this figure is two-fold....
When I got my Mavic wheels I got them on the understanding that I wasn't going to replace anything upon failure. And I will enjoy them until they die.
I'll take a Reilly, in a 56, though
But plundering the wrong budget is the central issue....
It doesn't have to be very loud or frequent for the police and legal process to accept pro-offender propaganda, especially where annoying cyclists...
I'm glad Rendel has looked into this, and I await a reply from the Anti-Eddy camp.