Report from cop who slammed bicyclist posted online

Clarification: I mistakenly dropped a word when commenting on whether the officer made any hand gestures to signal the bicyclist to stop. The sentence should have read that the officer made no hand gestures.

Kudos to The Smoking Gun for posting a copy of the arrest report filed by New York City policeman Patrick Pogan.

He's the officer who a tourist videotaped body slamming a bicyclist in what appears to be an unprovoked attack last Friday. The case is rapidly playing out on YouTube, where the clip has been watched nearly 900,000 times since Sunday night, when it was posted.

This is why I love the Web and I respect The Smoking Gun. They get paper. Thesmokinggun.com is famous for posting copies of important documents before anybody. They let readers decide for themselves what people say by publishing court filings, e-mails and memos.

Most of the information in the copy of Pogan's sworn complaint has been reported but there's a couple things I haven't seen anywhere else. Pogan wrote "upon instructing the defendant to cease the above-described conduct..."

I've watched that video a dozen times and it's hard to see any evidence that Pogan said a word before driving his shoulder into the bicyclist. He certainly makes no hand gestures for the rider to stop.

Pogan says that the rider was obstructing vehicular traffic, and weaving "in and out" of the center lane "thereby forcing multiple vehicles to stop abruptly or change their direction in order to avoid hitting" the rider.

In the video, traffic already appears to be stopped as bicyclists, who were participating in Critical Mass, a monthly protest against the reliance on motor vehicles, ride past Pogan. The officer has been stripped of gun and badge until the conclusion of the investigation.

There's another little tidbit that didn't make its way into previous stories on the incident. In Pogan's report, right above the line where he is supposed to sign his name, is a sentence that reads: "False statements made herein are punishable as a class A misdemeanor."

[smokeonit]

i don;t see any hand gestures or any voice command to the cyclist in order for him to stop....

where do you see a hand gesture???

[biznatch11]

I agree, I don't see any gestures or any sign at all that the officer tried to get him to stop before just knocking him over.

[sandonet]

Greg Sandoval here. I didn't mean to drop the word NO in that sentence. My sincerest apologies.

[theonlybuster]

Because this video clearly shows a maniac on a bike riding directly towards the officer... Sure. Another ex-cop

[Galaxy5]

I think the Critical Mass-holes are giving law-abiding cyclists a bad name, but this apparent abuse of police power is inexcusable.

Making hundreds of drivers in two-ton cars angry isn't the way to get respect - and I say this as a cyclist. Following the rules of the road and reporting people who break the law is a much better option. I can't even imagine how many hours of time - how many missed baseball games, appointments, dates, etc. Critical Mass has caused just in San Francisco - maybe it's time for them to try another tactic, because it seems like blocking traffic isn't working out too well.

[jag0]

Cue all the nutjobs who think that the majority of all cops are corrupt... /rolls eyes

[ouiving--2008]

More like a power hungry jerk thinking he can slam somebody and get away with it. I don't see an hand gesture, don't hear a shout command and as you can see from the video, quite a few other riders were doing the same thing prior to the poor cyclist who got too close.

[Travis Ernst]

What you can't see (and I was TRYING) was the light at the intersection. I was trying to see if he RAN the light. Is this a POSSIBLE reason for trying to detain the cyclist? CM is causing havoc, and I never have had respect for causing gridlock by people that claim "they are not a group" that cause gatherings of hundreds to create disasters as we have seen on the news during peak traffic times.

You don't bike the the middle of a lane if you are smart. Can you, YES, should you, NO. Two tons vs 250 pounds, Auto wins every time. I bike, however defense is what saves your skin, not ticking off cars.

[jeepinls]

I certainly hope for the officer's sake, theren are more videos somewhere.From where I'm sitting it appears unproved, however you know the saying "there are 3 sides to every story" Will justice prevail? Or is it all about the dollar?????

[Dalkorian]

Watch that video again. This nazi pig (he's not respectable enough to be called a cop, he's even below our animal pig brethren) is walking down the middle of the street and getting passed by dozens of these critical mass-holes (I don't like them much either, but that doesn't excuse THIS). He turns, picks one randomly near the end of the group (COWARD!), and simply body slams him to the ground with no warning. No discernible reason to pick this particular person (besides being to chicken-manure to deal with dozens of biking witnesses), no apparent attempt to try to get the guy to stop first. Just slammed him to the ground brutally.

And this nazi pig is calling this justified?

I hope this nazi pig gets what's coming to him in prison. People like him give the police a very bad name.

[b_bouchet]

I'm sure the officer did not just randomly pick someone to tackle. He had this guy eyed and lined up on him like there was a reason for it. Hopefully for his sake, a witness will come out and remember something about an idiot wearing combat boots on a bike.

I'm a cyclist also and these eco-terrorists are constantly getting themselves in trouble with the cops. You go on one of these rides, you should know the risk.

[gomer43]

Hand gestures? Where? Are we watching the same video?

The only thing I can think is the guy said/did something that we can't see before Pogan slammed him to the ground; however, even if he did, short of verbally threatening the cop, Pogan had no right to do what he did. I can't believe he's still on desk duty and not suspended without pay.

[sandonet]

Greg Sandoval here. My bad. The the sentence that gomer43 and smokonit are referring to is missing a word. I meant to say Pogan certainly makes NO hand gestures for the rider to stop.

[masonx]

The standard fascist prescription for civil disobedience is to make a dramatic example out of a randomly selected (the weaker the better) civil disobedience participant and make a dramatic example out of them. The video defines the situation... and the politics of SF and our country - formerly known as the home of the brave and the land of the free.

[as901]

For too long, the Bush administration has created the idea that America is now a police state! Most people are followers and this is what happens when bad people lead!

Mark Heinemann

[Critter69]

Watch closely, and you see Pogan, as he starts to walk to his right (left in the video) almost step into the path of a bike rider in dark gray clothing. That rider had to veer sharply to the left to avoid crashing into Pogan.

THEN, as Pogan is walking, he crosses his hands in front of him, like he is protecting his crotch. If you look carefully at his face, I don't see any indication of his lips moving. Saying, let alone shouting (as a police officer would have to do if the officer intends to be heard), the word 'STOP' would cause a definite movement of the lips and jaws.

The report authored by Pogan definitely does NOT describe what happened in the video.

Anyone wonder why people don't want to serve on juries when they see incidents like this, then have to rely on police reports to determine guilt or innocence?