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

[Joe Campbell]

I agree wrt the attitudes of some drivers toward bicyclists. When I bike to WSU the worst part is getting from my house to the trail across from the mall. And it bothers me that I've still not seen a citation for, say, a car driver failing to yield to a bike rider in a crosswalk. The feeling of entitlement is in part a consequence of failing to punish drivers for such infractions.



On Dec 23, 2010, at 6:11 AM, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com> wrote:

> If your serious concern about local hate speech is valid, then "Yo,
> why don't we step into the alley" is meant literally to indicate an
> intent for violent conduct, in some cases, which is why such speech is
> not as harmless as some indicate.
> 
> Therefore the physical attack against me is not so surprising.
> 
> But it is rather absurd for it to take the form ""Yo, bicylist, why
> don't we step into the alley" for a "rumble"or a "brawl."
> 
> But sometimes operators of motor vehicles seem to view bicyclists as
> an annoyance they would rather was not present on roads and
> highways... as though they don't have a right to be there.
> ------------------------------------------
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
> 
> On 12/22/10, Joe Campbell <philosopher.joe at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> 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
>>> 
>>>