Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

Prev Next
Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists
Quote | Reply
Today on a ride in Tucson Arizona my Jamis-Hagens Berman pro cycling team was intentionally assaulted by a man in a car. He came by our our group screaming obscenities like "Fucking cyclists get of the road" etc. He then came to the front of the group, got extremely close and THEN rammed the front left rider causing him and Tyler Wren to crash (the rider who made contact with the car is Todd Herriott of Sports Performance in Seattle). The driver then sped off from the scene, not even putting on his brake lights for a second. Luckily neither Todd or Tyler were seriously injured but they did get banged up,got some road rash, and Todd destroyed the saddle on his brand new Jamis Xenith SL.

Our director, Sebastian Alexandre, was up the road and after a quick phone call was able to intercept the car and our photographer, John Segesta, was able to get a photo of the car's plates. I called 911 and the Tucson Police arrived about 15-20 minutes later. The police took statements from every rider, got descriptions of the man, and sent detectives to his house. At the mans house detectives found the car had been washed just after the accident but still had a prominent scratch on the passenger side door. The man admitted to yelling at our group but not to hitting Todd, even accidentally.

In short, the guy is spending today in jail and is being charged by the Tucson City Prosecutor with class 3 felony Aggravated Assault (the same as if he had used a bat or gun). Apparently Tucson did not like the idea of their reputation for being a great cycling town tarnished when they saw the report of this incident on Cyclingnews.com. The gentleman in the car is looking at up to 15 years in prison and a serious criminal record.

Hopefully he will not be able to plead down his charges and this will be a serious wake up call to drivers that pull this shit. He must have been insane thinking that he could hit someone in front of 15+ witnesses and get away with it.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I'm glad they got the f*cker. We need less sh*t heads driving and threatening cyclists.

I will say Tucson, while it has become more crowded and the roads suck, I still feel it's a very safe place to ride.

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Last edited by: desert dude: Feb 22, 13 15:51
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
fucking awesome
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
That's crazy, glad everyone is fine. I have to correct your last sentence though. "He must have been insane thinking he could hit someone and get away with it." The fact that there were 15+ witnesses just makes him stupid.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Sometimes this is so appropriate ... for cowards in their cars ...




Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook

--
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [Demagogue] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I'm glad they caught him.

Formely stef32
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Glad to hear that the law is doing the right thing here.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Glad they got the D-bag!
Serves him right.
Hope he experiences the "bend over now" in the shower.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Awesome! Odds are that he'll get a deal, or charges will be reduced. He's realistically looking at a few months in jail and early release on top. Still, jail time ought to make him rethink his priorities.

Dirtbags are everywhere. I ran into a couple. I mean real dirtbags. I'm not counting Hondas filled with teens yelling at me, or inattentive drivers talking to their kids in the back seat and drifting onto shoulder. One redneck in a giant Dodge truck tried to run me off the road on purpose. And one professional wrestler looking dude in a land yacht Chrysler convertible (WTF who buys that in the first place???!) had a ... let's say a verbal altercation with me. I was alone both times.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Hopefully he will not be able to plea down too much. He was yelling obscenities before, so it was obviously not an accident, and he left the scene of an accident as well as failing to render aid on top of his aggravated assault (AA).

From what I can see online a class 3 AA carries a minimum of 5 years in prison, with 7.5 expected, 15 max. His use of the motor vehicle counts as using a deadly weapon or instrument, so even if he gets plead down he may still get class 6 AA which carries 18 months minimum. The fact that the city prosecutor is going after him is a big deal apparently. One of the cops on the scene said that even when cops get hurt the city prosecutor rarely gets involved. He also said someone at the prosecutors office got wind of the cyclingnews article and because of this took up the case. Maybe they will use this guy as an example to show how seriously they take cyclist safety, hopefully drawing more cycling tourism to Tucson.

However this works out in the end the guy is at least spending today in jail, which is a lot more than many other incidents. I would love to see the book thrown at him, though. 10 years in FMITA prison to teach him a real lesson.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
You just made my weekend with that story. Glad everyone but the asshat driver will sleep safe and sound this evening. They need to throw the book at him. The swearing is one thing, but once he uses his car as a weapon, it is a whole new ball game.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
that's good to hear.

Good luck to your teammates in their recovery, and good luck to you in this upcoming season
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Thanks for the update. I saw this on cyclingnews as well - didn't think I'd be reading about it here. Yes, Tucson is a mecca for cycling training for teams from all over. Not sure what the right sentence will be, but it appears the wheels are turning at least.

____________________________________
Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
It's so refreshing to read about law enforcement doing what they're supposed to when it comes to this stuff. It seems like every time a cyclist is injured or killed by a driver here in Austin, they don't even get ticketed.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Even if he gets off with minimal jail time, his prosecution will send a message to other motorists in the area. Glad your buddies weren't seriously injured.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn't." Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Excellent!
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
if he hates cyclists now, imagine how much he will hate them if he gets 15 years for this!
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
chase196126 wrote:

However this works out in the end the guy is at least spending today in jail, which is a lot more than many other incidents. I would love to see the book thrown at him, though. 10 years in FMITA prison to teach him a real lesson.

Since no one got hurt 10 years seems pretty excessive. Anger management classes and a few months jail time is appropriate.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Awesome, Great Job!! Put this worthless F??K away!!!!!!!
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I'm glad your team is okay, and the city prosecutor is taking this seriously. It totally baffles my mind when other cases similar to this get off with little to no criminal charges.

Would it make any difference if the driver was charged with say 15 counts of aggravated assault (one count for every cyclist in the group...or at least every cyclist that sustained an injury)? Does that increase the sentancing...or at least make it harder to plea bargin down?
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [tri808] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Maybe I need to start training with a video camera as I probably will never rate a photographer out with me.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [cyclops] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
cyclops wrote:
chase196126 wrote:


However this works out in the end the guy is at least spending today in jail, which is a lot more than many other incidents. I would love to see the book thrown at him, though. 10 years in FMITA prison to teach him a real lesson.


Since no one got hurt 10 years seems pretty excessive. Anger management classes and a few months jail time is appropriate.

Is this meant to be in pink font?
So, if someone shoots at you with a gun, but misses you - no harm...go to anger mgmt class?
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [chase196126] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
That's so freakin' awesome... Not the assault of course, but the fact that the PHX authorities appear to be taking it seriously.

Love it!


<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [ironyman] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
ironyman wrote:
Even if he gets off with minimal jail time, his prosecution will send a message to other motorists in the area. Glad your buddies weren't seriously injured.

Even if he gets off with minimal jail time, hopefully some civil lawsuit action will be coming his way from any riders that were affected. Fuck idiots like that, they deserve to get ruined.
Quote Reply
Re: Dirt bag picked the wrong cyclists [WelshinPhilly] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
It wasn't the driver, it was the car. We should look into banning the type of car he drove or at least limiting the amount of fuel he can put in it. That will solve the problem.

On a more serious not. Glad no body got hurt and I'm hopeful that justice is served.

_________________________________
The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.
Last edited by: guppie58: Feb 22, 13 19:54
Quote Reply

Prev Next