[Vision2020] Battery Case # 10-M11747: Citation 50859 Attached: Moscow/Pullman Daily News Public Records Report Falsehoods

[Joe Campbell]

This sounds terrible, Ted.

On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 2:45 PM, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com> wrote:
> I was informed at the Moscow Police Dept. yesterday Tues. Dec. 21,
> 2010, that the police report regarding my battery complaint described
> in this email was not finished, but that Moscow Police Officer Casey
> Green was working on this report.
>
> This email is being sent to Moscow Police Officer Casey Green, Moscow
> Police Chief Dan Weaver, Moscow Mayor Nancy Cheney, the Latah County
> Prosecutor, Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse (I have contacted
> this organization regarding this case and received helpful advice),
> the U of I Victims Rights Clinic, the Latah County Human Rights Task
> Force and a number of Moscow/Pullman Daily News and Lewiston Tribune
> representatives.
>
> If anyone witnessed the incident described in this email, i. e.
> someone standing straddling a bicycle being aggressively pushed
> (resulting in loosing footing and falling) down horizontally to the
> pavement by someone else on the crosswalk on the south side of Hwy 8
> at the intersection with Mountain View Rd., that occurred about 6 PM,
> Sunday Dec. 19, please contact me at starbliss at gmail.com, or call
> 208-882-8643, leave a message, or contact the Moscow Police Dept.
> regarding Battery Case # 10-M11747 at 208-882-2677.
>
> Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010 at about 6 PM I was bicycling on the Latah Trail
> heading east across the crosswalk at the intersection with Mountain
> View Rd. on the south side of Hwy. 8.  A vehicle was heading north on
> Mountain View Rd. approaching this crosswalk facing a stop sign at
> that intersection, a street light was illuminating the crosswalk that
> renders occupants of the crosswalk clearly visible at night, even for
> pedestrians who not required by code to carry light (unlike operators
> of bicycles), and I was operating a front and back light.
> Nonetheless, I was bicycling very slow, given the snow and ice, and
> that it's best to assume vehicles may have trouble stopping or drivers
> may be inattentive.
>
> This vehicle entered the crosswalk in front of me, forcing me to apply
> my brakes to prevent an accident.  There was no contact between my
> bicycle and the vehicle, but the crosswalk was being blocked by the
> vehicle.  I was then not riding my bicycle, but standing on foot
> straddling my bicycle.  I merely stood in place straddling my bicycle,
> waiting for the driver of the vehicle to either pull into Hwy. 8, or
> what other courteous drivers have done in my experience in the past,
> back-up to open the crosswalk.
>
> Within seconds, the driver quickly exited the vehicle and approached
> me closely face to face, as the vehicle he had exited remained
> blocking the crosswalk.  I do not recall the entire exact verbal
> exchange between us, which was very brief, and I could hardly get a
> word in edgewise, as they say.  I recall stating that I was operating
> a light to the front of my bicycle, or words to that effect, but I was
> baffled by what motivated this individuals behavior.  I have no
> recollection of knowing anything about or meeting this person, either
> directly or indirectly.
>
> I did not move from the spot where I was standing during this time,
> and was holding up my bike still straddling it on foot, while also
> holding a flashlight.  Again, the crosswalk remained blocked by the
> vehicle this individual had been driving.
>
> I made no motions to initiate physical contact with this individual.
>
> After the very brief "conversation" this individual forcefully shoved
> me to the pavement, which resulted in my legs becoming tangled with
> the frame of my bicycle, with I and my bicycle stretched out
> horizontally on the crosswalk/pavement.
>
> Again, to be redundant for emphasis, this physical contact/attack was
> entirely initiated by this individual.
>
> I told the driver I was going to contact the police, got off the
> pavement though leaving my bicycle in the crosswalk, and headed for
> Hwy 8 away from the individual who had attacked me.  I was promptly
> trying to avoid any further physical violence.
>
> I was quickly able to flag down a law enforcement vehicle that I think
> coincidentally was heading east on Hwy. 8, close to Mountain View Rd.
> I told this first law enforcement officer that I contacted in this
> case that I had been physically attacked, and I pointed to the
> individual that committed this act, who was, much to my amazement,
> following me at that time.  The fact this individual who had
> physically attacked me was following me on foot after this attack,
> leaving his vehicle blocking the crosswalk referenced, while I was
> attempting to contact police, I found highly alarming.
>
> After other law enforcement personnel arrived, I was questioned, and
> what resulted can be described as "Kafkaesque" (as in Kafka's book
> "The Trial").
>
> I was cited for battery.  The citation is attached to this email.  The
> individual who attacked me was also cited for battery, and the
> officers involved showed me a copy of that citation he was issued.
>
> Apparently, a passenger in the vehicle the person who physically
> attacked me was driving claimed that, according to what I was told by
> law enforcement officers, I had initiated physical contact with the
> driver who had confronted me.  This claim can be read on the citation
> for battery I was issued that is attached to this email.
>
> This claim is false, given the physical contact in this incident
> (again  excuse the redundancy) was entirely initiated by the driver of
> this vehicle who exited his vehicle, approached me closely while I was
> standing stationary in the crosswalk straddling my bicycle, while the
> vehicle he had been driving was left blocking the crosswalk, and
> forcefully shoved me and my bicycle down horizontally to the pavement.
>
> Again, to be redundant, my bicycle did not contact the vehicle in this
> case, nor did my body initiate any contact with the driver of this
> vehicle, or the vehicle he was driving.
> ---------------------
> The Moscow/Pullman Daily news on Tues. Dec. 21, 2010 on page 4A in
> their Public Records section under "Moscow Police" contains what
> appears to be a description of my battery complaint, that is simply
> false, as it reads below:
>
> Sunday
>
> 6:04 PM --Officers responded to a verbal altercation following a
> vehicle versus bicycle collision at South Mountain View Road and Troy
> Road.
> ---------------------
> What the officers were responding to was my battery complaint (I had
> no complaint regarding the very limited verbal exchange involved),
> there was no vehicle versus bicycle collision, nor did I indicate to
> police that a collision had occurred between my bicycle and the
> vehicle in question.
> ---------------------
> Below is the description of this incident from the Moscow Police Dept.
> daily activity logs for Dec, 2010, available from the City of Moscow
> website as given below:
>
> http://www.moscow.id.us/police/activity/2010_logs.aspx
>
> 10-M11747 Simple Battery
> Incident Address : South Mountain View Rd & Troy Rd
> MOSCOW ID 83843
> Disposition : ACT
> Time Reported: 18:04
> Cad Comments:
> RP advising of a verbal altercation that appears to have resulted from a vehicle
> vs bike. Officers responded and citations issued. Report Taken.
> ------------------------------------------
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>
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