| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 5/23 |
| 2007/4/5-7 [Transportation/Car/RoadHogs, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:46205 Activity:moderate |
4/5 link:csua.org/u/ie4 mp3 of interview with the woman in the minivan in the critical mass incident (with Armstrong & Getty). Interview starts at 12 minutes in. Sounds like people in Critical Mass caused the problem. I find her believable. -emarkp (I should add A&G are far more reasonable than most people I hear on radio, they're not kool-aid drinkers, etc. And their show is liberally sprinkled with humor.) \_ She drove all the way from Hayward in a premeditated effort to assault and attempt to kill innocent people. Only the brave and noble efforts of a handful of people at peril of losing their very lives stopped this mad woman before she could bring her nefarious plot to it's ultimate and deadly conclusion! \_ Yup, I'm sure planting a kid's birthday celebration to coincide with the Critical Mass day and time, and bringing along another kid and three kids from other families, was part of her planning. \_ ob sarcasm lost upon thee \_ I *thought* I piled it on thick enough that no one could possibly take it at face value. My mistake. \_ So let's see if I have this sequence of events right: Van driver gets stopped by a small group of bicyclists, who are illegally blocking traffic. Van driver decides she is not going to wait 30 seconds and drives around bicyclist and weaves back and forth through cyclists. Cyclists get mad and block her way, probably banging their hands on the sides of her car. She freaks out and deliberately rams a bicyclist blocking her way. At this point, cyclists swarm her car and smash her window. Laws broken by cyclists: malicious mischief, failure to yield Laws broken by car driver: assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder. Hard to side with the felon in this case. \_ That's "a" version of events. It wouldn't fly in a court room but good effort. \_ Don't be so sure of yourself. If the victim in this case steps forward, I bet the DA will file charges. \_ The cops were useless: '"We sit there and they just go right through the red lights," Sgt. Callejas said. "What else can we do? Arrest one rider while 500 keep going?"' \_ The answer to his question is YES. Arrest one, charge him/her, and make it clear that breaking the law is breaking the law even when done as a part of civil disobedience. Do this enough times and the economic penalties will add up. --erikred \_ right, just like they should arrest every driver speeding on the freeway. -tom \_ I didn't think even Tom could equate running a red right or a Stop sign with speeding by 5-10 miles. We're not talking about not doing a hand signal on turn. Running lights/stops is a real hazard. Tom, are you disingenuous or stupid? \_ You think it would be safer to have a dozen different Critical Mass groups because they got split up by lights? The cops don't think that. Running stop signs is not any more of a hazard than speeding is; in both cases, it depends on the context. -tom \_ I think it would be safer if CM followed the laws. Kind of a weird concept, I know. And in both the case of speeding and running red lights/signs, I desire and expect the cops to ticket people and arrest the more excessive cases for all vehicles be they cars, bikes, suvs, wheel chairs, flying saucers dropping spaghetti or anything else. The law already recognises the context by assigning different levels of fines and other punishments for different transgressions. It does not account for context by simply ignoring transgressions. Obviously there are corner cases such as the people doing 120+ fleeing from Mount St. Helens eruption, but I haven't heard of any active volcanos in this region. ;-) \_ speaking of flying saucers, what planet are you living on? -tom \_ obflyingcarrant http://csua.com/?entry=38770 \_ No, but if I zoom past a cop on the highway I expect to get pulled over and nailed with a ticket for a few hundred bucks and a visit to traffic school. Just because there are a lot of people breaking the law at once is no reason to ignore it. It is a basic safety issue. In this case it lead to a smashed van, scared kids, and bad bike PR. It could have been a lot worse. I want to know that if the bikers were justified and we know they were only stopped by the cops how much further could they have gone and still been justified in your mind? Since the driver is claimed to be an attempted killer, wouldn't punching her out be justified? How about nabbing the kids on the spot since she's obviously an unfit parent/guardian? How about flat out murder in self defense leaving her dead on the spot? Where is the line? (I'll answer since I was being rhetorical). The answer is they already crossed the line going as far as they did. Once you open the door to vigilante (in)justice you open a Pandora's Box you can never close again. \_ No, just like they should arrest every driver who runs a red light or stop sign. --erikred \_ You didn't listen apparently. She was waved through by police officers, and as she was in the intersection she was swarmed by bicyclists. She's moving slowly, intentionally remaining slow so they could avoid her. They're riding past, and some are circling her. Then one of them rams her vehicle (she says it looked intentional) and it escalates from there, including people climbing in top of the vehicle, breaking her back window, etc. -emarkp \_ You forgot the part where she rammed a bike, pinning it underneath her car. -ausman \_ Where does this pinning quote come from? I must have missed it. \_ I simply don't believe that claim. She says it never happened, and I have to wonder where the bike went. If my bike were pinned under the car, I certainly wouldn't have gone away without filing a report with the police. -emarkp \_ Well, and how would you have ridden off on it? A wheel or a pedal would almost certainly bend or break. \_ http://www.csua.org/u/ie1 Multiple witnesses, most of whom were not directly involved in the incident, trump one person who has every motivation to lie about her participation. -ausman \_ I don't see "multiple witnesses" on that blog link. I see a blogger speculating "Try this version..." You don't appear to have listened to the interview. There were police at the scene from the beginning, and they don't corroborate this. -emarkp \_ Sorry, wrong link: http://www.csua.org/u/ie6 -ausman \_ I get the sense that this is Bad Driver Syndrome. You're in a car. A few thousand pounds of metal. If there are pedestrians or bicyclists doing things around you, legal or illegal, you are only in control of your car. Sounds like the best thing would have been for her to stop and wait for all others to clear before moving. You don't push your car through any group unless someone's got a gun in your face. --scotsman \_ Sorry, I feel the woman and the cops are more credible. Oh, and I love how the video you link to cuts off before the woman can state her case. -emarkp \_ Where do you see a quote from "the cops"? So far they have been mum. -ausman \_ http://csua.org/u/idl (the first article I posted) I thought I heard that police arrived on the scene at some point during the altercation and didn't do anything about it, though I can't find any link to back that up at the moment, so I may be wrong. -emarkp \_ The policeman does say that he apologized to Ferrando, but does not testify one way or another to the facts surrounding the incident. Though I have to admit, him feeling the need to apologize is pretty damning. -ausman \_ It is funny that this is exactly the kind of vigilante justice that emarkp is advocating down below in the gun control debate. For the record: I have never ridden in SF Critical Mass and only a couple of times in Berkeley (which is a much different vibe anyway). I'm not a supporter of Critical Mass. But I do think that this woman was likely acting like an asshole (possibly due to hysteria, possibly due to just being an asshole), put the lives of others in danger, and in some sense, got what she deserved. The police calling "no foul" is probably the right thing to do. Oh, and Matier and Ross are unscrupulous hacks. -tom \_ Actually, no it's the opposite. I believe the driver had the right to fire in self-defense. -emarkp \_ And the bikes believed they had the right to attack in self-defense. Of course, if everyone were packing heat, they'd always consult with emarkp before trying to shoot anyone. -tom \_ I think you're an idiot tom, and please stop putting words in my mouth. The woman was surrounded by a mob which was attacking her vehicle. I simply don't believe the complaint that any bicycle went under the wheels, and if she'd had a gun and used it, I wouldn't have any complaints. By the way tom, if you're so against vigilante violence, why haven't you condemned the cyclists? -emarkp \_ I don't think it's right that they broke her window. I don't think it's right that she ran into a bike and kept trying to drive through more. -tom \_ More witnesses: http://www.csua.org/u/ieb "McCarthy [driver] said she was intimidated by police when she tried to file a hit-and-run report." police when she tried to file a hit-and-run report." Now that sounds like a reliable witness... \_ "Witnesses also say that the bicyclist who was hit wanted to file a police report, but was told by the officers that the only way to do so would be if they called an ambulance for him, which he would have to pay for." http://www.csua.org/u/iec (SFBG) \_ Where did you get "a small group of bicyclists?" \_ Well, A&G are right about one thing: the "Communist" City Council is not going to outlaw critical mass. The vast majority of San Franciscans are sick and tired of being daily bullied, threatened and intimidated by automobile drivers. And the new Transit Effectiveness Project is going to make it even more expensive and difficult to drive in San Francisco. Which is a good thing. \_ Scare cyclists as you drive every day. Weave toward them, dont give them room etc. Slow down in front of them when they run Stop signs. \_ I worked in the financial district and soma for years. The worst that ever happened was a pickup honking at me while I was rolling an E450 across the street. Maybe this intimidation occurs in some other parts of the city? (No, I didn't drive in so I was always on foot where ever I went). \_ http://www.csua.org/u/ie8 http://http://www.csua.org/u/ie7 http://http://www.csua.org/u/iea http://http://www.csua.org/u/ie9 |
| 5/23 |
|
| csua.com/?entry=38770 mspx \_ And like the flying car, it's always just around the corner... The same fucking retards who drive around in 5000 pound SUV's while talking on cell phones, blast through crosswalks at 55 mph without looking and park on sidewalks (ie the American public) should NOT EVER be alowed to fly. They WILL park in trees over sidewalks, which will break causing even more pedestrian slaughter. They will park on roofs where it is unsafe, run into power lines causing outages, crash into office buildings (out of sheer stupidity at first, then the terrorists will start using them as bombs), get stuck in trees and have to be choppered out, and break down over crowded areas and crash like stones. We'll see how funny you think it is when some fucker crashes their flying SUV into the side of YOUR house, or after a flying car parked in a tree falls and kills YOUR dog. com/2006/10/26/news/economy/weighty_drivers Americans now pump 938 million gallons of fuel more on a yearly basis than they were in 1960 because of their increasing weight. Americans' reliance on cars for private transportation has increased as low rise construction, single-family homes and highways associated with suburbs have grown since the end of World War II. He is perplexed as to why I bought an overpriced, under-horsepowered Prius when I could have afford a Lexus GS300 which is quieter, has a much smoother ride, a much better stereo system, and a LOT more horsepower. mspx arriving 2006 formerly Windows codename "Longhorn" Bringing clarity to your world. Today we live in a world of more information, more ways to communicate, m ore things to do. There is more you can do and even more you can discove r Every day, millions of people around the globe rely on their Windows PC t o manage their increasingly digital lives. While familiar tools for mana ging digital information are powerful, today's world requires more. In today's digital world, you want the PC to adapt to you, so you can cut through the clutter and focus on what's important to you. Introducing Windows Vista It enables a new level of confidence in your PC and in your ability to ge t the most out of it. It introduces clear ways to organize and use information the way you want to use it. It seamlessly connects you to information, people, and devices that help you get the most out of life. VIDEO: Watch the name announcement for Windows Vista Windows Vista Beta Beta 1, targeted at developers and IT professionals, will be available by August 3rd 2005. |
| www.csua.org/u/ie1 -> www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2007/04/did_critical_mass_really_go_cr.html went nuts on Friday and started attacking a poor innocent family. I was on the ride and know how ridiculous that story was so I wrote Andy Ross (a colleague of mine on the City Desk NewsHour cable television program) the following e-mail. Andy, C'mon, man, you can't tell me that you actually believe the scenario that you spelled out in your column today. If you aren't going to bother to seek out the other side (I was on the ride and you could have called me), at least you've got to smell-test this stuff to see whether it makes sense. That's the first thing I teach the reporters I work with. Try this version and see if it makes a little more sense. A driver gets angry and impatient after getting stuck in Critical Mass and tries to drive through the crowd (which is stupid, illegal, and dangerous). To prevent injuries, the standard practice in such cases is for riders to place themselves and their bikes in front of the car. She hits said bicyclist (sure, maybe not hard enough to produce an injury, as you pointed out, but contact is contact) and then keeps driving forward. The rest of the bicyclists urge her to just stop driving, please, which she refuses to do because at this point she's agitated and indignant. They pound on her windows, pleading with her to stop driving into a crowd of hundreds of bicyclists with her deadly object. Pretty soon, a bicyclist loses it and smashes her window. Now, none of this excuses the act of smashing her window, which understandably shook up her kids. But to simply report this woman's version of events is irresponsible and simply bad journalism. Or worse, it is a calculated effort by a writer with a clear bias against bicycling (as I've heard you express on several occasions) to spur a crackdown on Critical Mass. Whatever the case, it was a very disappointing article that I intend to counter on our website. Please let me know if you have any comments about my criticisms and the far more realistic scenario I've presented. |
| www.csua.org/u/ie6 -> video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6556644913687801720 uk Top 100 most popular New comedy videos SIDEKICK Sketch Comedy - LIVE Torsh O Shirin Part 07 Sovakoviny CT1 Contatto TV - Puntata n05 del 2006/2007 KaVN - Kubok NJ 2006 - YUzhnyj Temperament Best of Late 2006 / Early 2007 Sheesha party part 2 Sheesha party Da 4 real world episode 3 Larissa e zezo... All comedy videos Best-selling TV shows 1 Charlie Rose 2 Survivor: Panama 3 CSI 4 Star Trek Voyager 5 The Brady Bunch 6 Star Trek DS9 7 Survivor: Guatemala 8 NCIS 9 Twilight Zone 10. Macgyver All TV shows New sports videos NHL - Watch Full Length Games mecz ZSG-H video Un truc pour faire un strike mais aussi ... Madrid Sortie Chamrousse Janvier 2008 M Streeet F SaSHa 46 km\h <polna streeet... All sports videos New music videos live romanian folk music:balada lui pint... Money - David Guetta Miss paramount + Popstitute Crianca cantando Lets Fall In Love Sono e sono mia stampjump jordy en tom Ministerio Agua Viva (Ensaio) Junoon - Pappu Yaar Live Soprano hala hala 2007 All music videos New movies We're No Monks : full length feature fil... Brooklyn Bound WiseGuys On Texas Hold 'Em: Advanced Str... Lyricist Lounge Presents: Dirty States Lyricist Lounge Presents: Hip Hop Video ... Yuna Likes To Dance PALMA DEL RIO Y LA VIEJA DE LA ESCOBA Airside Flip Book workshop All animation videos Google Picks Business Commercials Dance Documentary Drama Educational Health & Fitness Gaming Google Picks Home Video Horror Movie Trailer Nature News Religious Romance Science Fiction Stock Footage Thriller Travel Western . |
| csua.org/u/idl -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/04/BAGF7P12RN23.DTL View Archive It was supposed to be a birthday night out for the kids in San Francisco, but instead turned into a Critical Mass horror show -- complete with a pummeled car, a smashed rear window and little children screaming in terror. The spontaneous Critical Mass bike rides, in which thousands of free-spirited cyclists roam the city, have been a fixture on the last Friday night of the month since the early 1990s. But even bike-weary cops, who have seen their share of traffic disturbances and minor skirmishes, weren't prepared for what happened during the latest exercise of pedal power. Here's the story: Susan Ferrando, her husband, their two children and three preteens had come to San Francisco from Redwood City to celebrate the birthday of Ferrando's 11-year-old daughter. They went to Japantown, where they enjoyed shopping and taking in the blooming cherry blossoms. Things took a turn for the worse at about 9 pm, when the family was leaving Japantown -- just as the party of about 3,000 bikers was winding down its monthly red-lights-be-damned ride through the city. Suddenly, Ferrando said, her car was surrounded by hundreds of cyclists. Not being from San Francisco, Ferrando thought she might have inadvertently crossed paths with a bicycle race and couldn't figure out why the police, who she had just passed, hadn't warned her. Confusion, however, quickly turned to terror, she said, when the swarming cyclists began wildly circling around and then running into the sides of her Toyota van. Filled with panic, Ferrando said, she started inching forward until coming to a stop at Post and Gough streets, where she was surrounded by bikers on all sides. A biker in front blocked her as another biker began pounding on the windshield. "It seemed like they were using their bikes as weapons,'' Ferrando said. One of the bikers then threw his bike -- shattering the rear window and terrifying the young girls inside. All the while, Ferrando was screaming, "There are children in this car! She had the presence of mind to dial 911 on her cell phone -- and within minutes, the squad of motorcycle cops who were assigned to keep an eye on the ride descended on the scene. The cyclists were loudly demanding that Ferrando be arrested for hit and run. According to police, Ferrando had allegedly tapped one of the cyclists' tires. When the alleged bicycle victim was approached, however, he said he wasn't hurt. He also refused to give his name or any other information. Then, after a few swear words, the alleged victim took off on his bike while the rest of the crowd continued to yell at both the cops and the van. Ed Callejas -- the lead cop on the scene and a veteran of Critical Mass rides since their inception -- said he'd never seen anything like it before. "I've seen the bikes swarm cars, and scratch them as they go by. I've seen guys get out of their cars and start fighting with the bikers, but if you had seen the faces on those little girls in tears,'' Callejas said. "All I could do was apologize for what they had been through." The sergeant suggested that Ferrando write a letter to the mayor. For Callejas and other cops assigned to the bike ride, Critical Mass has long been a study in contradictions. For starters, San Francisco is a "green" city, and bike riding is about as green as you can get -- yet residents and commuters complain endlessly about getting trapped in the rides. The city tries to ignore the unplanned rides, but there are always cops on hand to monitor the gatherings, even though any kind of traffic planning is impossible because no route is announced. And even though the rides are held every month, Critical Mass has no organized leadership -- so no one can be held accountable for the group's actions. In 1997, then-Mayor Willie Brown tried to control the rides. The city's generally hands-off attitude leaves cops as little more than bystanders. "We sit there and they just go right through the red lights,'' Sgt. "The only way to control this is through a massive effort by police and the Sheriff's Department,'' he said. As for reaction from City Hall, Mayor Gavin Newsom said such acts of violence -- if true -- "only serve to undermine the worthwhile message of Critical Mass, which is to raise the awareness of bike transportation issues." The mayor also said that -- if the charges are grounded -- he expected the attackers to be "punished to the greatest extent of the law." Ma on the move: Rookie San Francisco state Assemblywoman Fiona Ma isn't wasting any time making tracks. Ma is one of six state lawmakers in France this week for a fun fact-finding tour of that nation's high-speed rail system. It was her third trip in the last year -- she also traveled to China on the dime of a nonprofit and to Morocco as a guest of that government. This time, she's using campaign funds -- and what a journey it's been. A perfect blend of political correctness, public relations and party, to boot. Play the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi goofy expression caption contest. And read the Extra, Extra, Extra musings and insights of friends including Rich "Big Vinny'' Lieberman and The Chronicle's Carla Marinucci and Don "Bad Reporter" Asmussen. |
| www.csua.org/u/ieb -> www.fogcityjournal.com/news_in_brief/bcn_critical_mass_070405.shtml Luke Thomas By Brent Begin, Bay City News Service April 5, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A group of San Francisco bicyclists disputes a Redwood City woman's claim that her family was the victim of an unprovoked attack during a Critical Mass bicycle demonstration Friday. Susan Ferrando has called on the city to hold someone accountable for wrecking her minivan during one of the semi-monthly protests, which are meant to promote bicycling as an alternative to driving cars. Ferrando said it was a "terrifying incident" in which her children and their friends were held at the mercy of a swarm of bike riders. In the end she said their "city adventure" ended up causing $5,300 in damage to her vehicle. But bicyclists at the incident dispute claims that Ferrando was the target of a baseless attack. They said Ferrando sped by a small group of bicyclists, knocking one man off his bike and running over his bicycle. Kate McCarthy had been riding in that group, which she said was breaking off from the 20 or 30 bicyclists who made up a bulk of the dissipating mass. With the way the police had held up traffic at the intersection of Post and Laguna streets, McCarthy and her group were alone without any traffic in the road. Ferrando said she had the same experience after two police officers waved her through an intersection. McCarthy said the minivan zoomed past her, knocked one of the bicyclists in her group off his bike and then sped off. Some of the bikers then raced ahead to catch up with the van and stopped it. McCarthy said she called 911 right away because of the hit-and-run. While they waited for the police, however, several more bicyclists peddled up to the scene, at Post and Buchanan streets, and they got violent, McCarthy said. Ferrando said her daughter, who had just celebrated her birthday at Japantown center was sitting in the back with her friends when she saw a bike go through the window. "Bikers were kicking the van, pummeling the outside," she said. "We were in such a state of shock that we didn't even think of calling 911 until finally my husband did." Ferrando said that she never hit anybody and that when her van was surrounded, one bicyclist purposely drove into the right panel of her minivan as if to provoke her. "A biker to my right made a 90 degree turn into the van. Both parties said the police did a poor job of handling the incident. Ferrando said she wasn't warned of the danger of Critical Mass and that she was waved into the heart of it. "I just want the city to know that this is dangerous for visitors who don't know what's going on," she said. McCarthy said she was intimidated by police when she tried to file a hit-and-run report. They told her she couldn't file a claim unless the injured party accepted medical attention. Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bike Coalition, said this entire story has been one-sided and it overshadows the everyday dangers of biking in the city. "We've got a totally unacceptable rate of bicycle and pedestrian deaths and injuries in this city and that should be the real story," Shahum said. |
| www.csua.org/u/iec -> www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2007/04/demonizing_bicyclists.html yesterday, I sought a reaction from the Chron's Andy Ross, which I've now received and am posting below followed by more discussion. Andy Ross wrote: "Look, we reported this story to the best of our ability on a deadline, and relied on both a police report and interviews with the senior officer at the scene and the woman driving the van. We certainly would have liked to talk to the Critical Mass rider who was hit but, as we reported, he didn't give his name and allegedly took off unharmed. I frankly wasn't aware that you were on the ride, and would have called you had I known. But none of that changes the basic facts that we reported -- namely that a woman, along with her family and friends, were in town for a birthday celebration, drove onto a public street and suddenly found themselves surrounded by scores of bicyclists. In the chaos that followed, she banged into a rider (witnesses today tell us the cyclist was either to the side of the van or behind it -- not in front of the driver). That, in turn, touched off an angry rection from the bicyclists, who banged on the van, cursed at the driver and at some point broke out the rear window. For an unsuspecting family, it was a terrifying adventure into San Francisco. But this certainly looks like the kind of unfortunate incident that was waiting to happen. Regards, Andy Ross" The key point that Ross and the Chron fail to emphasize was what happened between "found themselves surrounded by scores of bicyclists" and "the chaos that followed." Based on my own interviews with those who were there (I had just left the ride when the incident occurred), what happened was this impatient woman tried to drive around the traffic jam of bicyclists and hit one. The Chron further betrays its biases today by trying to minimize the incident by saying she "inadvertently tapped one of the bike's tires." But 4,000 pound vehicles don't "tap" bikes, as evidenced by the cyclist being thrown to the ground. Then the woman tried to flee the scene, which is why the bicyclists tried to block her exit, although she kept trying to drive away and was yelling at the cyclists (who had called 911 -- not exactly something an angry mob attacking an innocent family would do). And yes, someone finally went too far in getting her attention. Nobody is saying it is, although I would maintain that it was the end result in a cycle of escalating violence that this woman initiated. But the Chron's main sin here is to blow this minor crime way out of proportion, particularly as it underemphasizes and fails to report the more serious crime of motorists regularly running over bicyclists and pedestrians in San Francisco, not to mention using their deadly vehicles to reinforce their mistaken view that the roads are for cars, not bikes. As a bicyclist, I've been hit by cars twice in this town and threatened and menaced by them countless times. Yet as traffic becomes worse and the planet becomes warmer, our city government has done remarkably little to facilitate bicycling and make it a more safe and attractive transportation option. That's one of the reasons why we relish our little monthly paradigm shift when, for a couple hours citywide or about 10 minutes at any given intersection, bicyclists displace automobiles from their position of primacy. It's a minor inconvenience for most drivers -- only the hostile ones tends to slow the mass and invite escalating confrontation -- but it remains a relevant and important statement. That's clearly not how the Chronicle sees it, or bicycling in general. That newspaper actively tries to marginalize the bicycle community as some kind of elitist special interest. Healthy Saturdays (which, perhaps not coincidentally, is about to come up for a vote), with the city's flawed bike plan that led to an injunction against all bike safety projects in the city, and Critical Mass. But bicyclists aren't the main problem here, so it was great to see SFBC director Leah Shahum stick to her guns in today's Chron piece. Sure, we'd be willing to have a conversation about improving the relationship between drivers and bicyclists. But that conversation has to be predicated on an understanding that bicycles are traffic, as legitimately and legally entitled to the roadways as cars, and when an automobile threatens a bicycle (even one that is blocking traffic or not where he should be) then that's a serious crime that the city needs to actively discourage. But the Chron's provocative "road wars" approach -- and Ross's final statement that we had it coming -- is not how we start that conversation. PS Witnesses also say that the bicyclist who was hit wanted to file a police report, but was told by the officers that the only way to do so would be if they called an ambulance for him, which he would have to pay for. And when he tried to file a report through another officer, the first one came over and repeated the ambulance requirement. Anyway, I thought that was an important omitted detail that neither the Chron nor several online posters have acknowledged as they try to minimize this collision and its catalytic role. |
| www.csua.org/u/ie8 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/20/BAGHVOODSI3.DTL Google Bookmarks Georgia (default) Verdana Times New Roman Arial New! The 2 am incident began when the suspect, Hamilton Diaz, 25, was driving southbound on Valencia Street and attempted to make a left turn eastbound onto 16th Street, police spokesman Sgt. "The victim and his friend were crossing the street -- we don't know what took place exactly ... but words were exchanged, and the suspect stopped his car and got out," Gittens said. "More words were exchanged, then the suspect got back in his vehicle." The suspect began driving toward the two pedestrians, Gittens said, at which point the victim began punching the car. The pedestrians took off walking northbound on Valencia Street, Gittens said, but the suspect drove his car up onto the sidewalk and hit the victim with the vehicle, throwing his body into the air. The suspect drove away but tried to park nearby, Gittens said. Police cordoned off the area and eventually arrested Diaz. He was arrested on suspicion of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, failing to report an accident and violating parole. |
| www.csua.org/u/ie7 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/29/BAGAEKRCO55.DTL Suspect had recent arranged marriage (8/30) Updated 6:13 pm -- As many as 14 people were injured this afternoon by a motorist who drove around San Francisco deliberately running them down before being arrested by police, who believe the same driver struck and killed a man earlier today in Fremont. At least one hit-and-run victim remained in critical condition this evening. Reports of the incidents began pouring in at 12:47 pm, police said. Within a half-hour, San Francisco police had cornered and arrested 29-year-old Omeed Aziz Popal, who has addresses in Ceres (Stanislaus County) and Fremont. Authorities suspect Popal was the same driver who ran over and killed a 54-year-old man in Fremont around noon. That man, whose name was not immediately released, had been walking in a bicycle lane at Fremont Boulevard near Ferry Lane when he was struck and thrown into a field, where, as of 5:30 pm, his body remained covered with a tarp. That crash scene is just blocks from Popal's Fremont address, where he had most recently been living. Neville Gittens said the attacks in the city occurred at 12 locations over a 20-minute period. "The hits were intentional,'' he said, noting that police are treating them as assaults. Popal was arrested after patrol cars boxed in his black Honda SUV, its windshield and right front headlight smashed, outside a Walgreens store on Spruce Street between California and Mayfair in the Laurel Heights area. A dental office manager, who identified herself only as Kira, watched from a second-floor window as police dragged the driver out of his vehicle. "He was absolutely indifferent, no fear, no expression,'' she said. "He looked calm and pretty clean-cut, like a normal guy,'' Warms said. The police reported the following injuries: -- Two people, one of them a child, were seriously injured on the 3500 block of California Street in Laurel Heights. Witnesses said they included a man with a broken hip and a woman with a gashed head. "It was like 'Death Race 2000,' " firefighter Danny Bright said at California and Fillmore streets as an ambulance stood nearby. "Guys were walking down the sidewalk, and the guy just came up and ran them over. Mayor Gavin Newsom visited five of the victims at San Francisco General Hospital. "This was so senseless and inexplicable,'' the mayor said afterward. One man he visited, who identified himself as Jesse, said as he was walking out of the hospital, "The car came after me. Francis Hospital, one to Kaiser and two to California Pacific Medical Center, authorities said. Emanule Gowan, 50, said he had been standing on his Steiner Street doorstep around 1 pm when an SUV roared by, driving the wrong way down Bush Street, and hit an elderly man in the crosswalk. "The man must have gone up in the air about 8 feet and landed on the SUV's windshield,'' Gowan said. "I looked right at him, and he looked at me as he busted down the street," Gowan said. Larry Jackson saw the vehicle driving the right direction on Bush Street, slowing at the intersection of Pierce Street as a woman walked in the crosswalk. "He let her walk by till she got in front of him, and he just punched it," Jackson said. He attended to the woman and, a short time later, the driver roared down Bush in the wrong direction. The SUV struck two people in front of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on California Street, a few blocks from where the rampage ended. Blood covered the sidewalk in front of the center's gift store entrance, and 50 feet farther down the sidewalk lay a mangled bicycle. Security cameras in front of the center captured images of the incident, which happened at 1:12 pm, according to Aaron Rosenthal, spokesman for the community center. One victim, Pedro Aglugov, 70, was sitting at a table at a sidewalk cafe at California and Fillmore with his head bandaged with gauze, holding an ice pack to one elbow. "The motorcyclist stood in the intersection trying to signal the driver to stop,'' Lynn said. The SUV then "went speeding in reverse on Bush heading west, weaving in and out of traffic. Another man at the cafe, Max Bran, said, "We thought he was going to stop and give up, but instead he just stepped on the gas. "She was just crossing the street, just crossing the street," he said. That victim had been walking north on Fremont Boulevard in the bicycle lane when he was struck from behind and knocked several feet into a field, Fremont Officer Alan Zambonin said. The black SUV, a Honda described as a Pilot or a CRV, made no attempt to stop or help the victim, police said. Zambonin estimated the SUV had been traveling as fast as 50 mph and sped away with a shattered windshield and damage to the right front side. "It's a good possibility (the incidents) are all connected,'' Zambonin said. Chronicle staff writers Vanessa Hua, Matt Stannard, Wyatt Buchanan, Jill Tucker, Nanette Asimov, Cecilia Vega and Susan Sward contributed to this report. |
| www.csua.org/u/iea -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/06/24/BA142348.DTL Tesfamariam Sebhatu, a 22-year-old native of Eritrea, was... A San Francisco man who was beaten up, run over by a car and dragged for three blocks through the city's South of Market neighborhood lost his left arm, broke his right leg and suffered such extensive bruises and gashes that doctors do not expect him to survive, family members said. Tesfamariam Sebhatu, a 22-year-old native of Eritrea, remained in critical condition Monday at San Francisco General Hospital as police released the names of two of the three suspects who they say sped away in a tricked-out Lexus after the incident Sunday. The search for the suspects continued as new, gruesome details emerged about Sebhatu's ordeal, which started just after 4 am in an alley outside the 1015 Folsom dance club and ended with several people chasing the Lexus as it dragged Sebhatu, leaving a trail of blood and torn clothing for several blocks. "This case looks like attempted murder -- that's what charges we will be seeking," said police Inspector Laurel Hall. There was a reckless, senseless attempt on a young man's life." The three men knew they were dragging Sebhatu, and even stopped momentarily to try to pull him free from under the car, witnesses have told police. But when they were unsuccessful, they kept driving, until Sebhatu fell into the Seventh Street on-ramp to southbound Highway 101. "I hope they find them -- it's very painful to the family," said Gebre Tekle, Sebhatu's 52-year-old uncle. Hall said police are seeking the alleged driver, George "Junior" Delapaz, 33; and a second unidentified passenger described as a Latino male in his late 20s, 5-foot-10 and heavy-set, with black hair and a torn black T-shirt. "We expect to have an arrest within a few days," Hall said. Sebhatu, who immigrated to the United States 14 years ago and moved to San Francisco in 1993, lives on Golden Gate Avenue with his mother, younger brother and older sister, and helps support his family by working in a liquor store, his sister said. "He's right on the edge," his sister, Timnit Sebhatu, 25, said. Witnesses have described a shocking crime that apparently started after the suspects became angry when a car driven by Sebhatu's friend wasn't moving fast enough in a congested area outside the night club. "I've seen some bad things -- I was a cop for 16 years -- but this is the most horrible thing I've seen in my life," said the club manager and bouncer, Dave Helm, a 43-year-old retired Hayward police officer who witnessed the incident. It had been a typical night at 1015 Folsom, where a Saturday dance party called "Release" has been one of the most popular club events in San Francisco for years. Before 4 am, three men had tried to get into the club as VIPs -- avoiding a $30 cover charge -- but were turned away by Helm. About 20 minutes later, Helm said, a fellow employee put out a help call over the radio to other employees, saying a fight had broken out on Harriet Street, an alley alongside the club. The club employees found two groups of three men fighting each other in front of a tricked-out black Lexus. Helm said Sebhatu, while on the ground, was then kicked twice in the face by the man, who then hopped into the passenger seat of the Lexus, with another man driving and the third also a passenger. Sebhatu was lying helpless in the alley, about 15 feet in front of the car, Helm said. With its rear tires spinning and burning out, the car drove forward and pinned Sebhatu under the right front tire, Helm said, then dragged him halfway down the alley toward Harrison Street. When the car stopped for a moment, one club employee tried to break the driver's side window, and he and Helm pulled the door open and tried to pull the driver out. Moving 15 to 20 mph, the Lexus was able to put about 200 yards between itself and its screaming pursuers by the time it approached the next intersection, Seventh Street. The men tried to drive in reverse for a moment, then all three jumped out, Helm said. "They're pulling him by the legs" -- trying to free Sebhatu along the right side of the car. "So (they) jump back in and take off up the southbound on-ramp (to Highway 101)." Sebhatu was dislodged right as the Lexus sped onto the freeway. |
| www.csua.org/u/ie9 -> sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/06/27/BA152754.DTL Google Bookmarks Georgia (default) Verdana Times New Roman Arial New! A motorist in San Francisco ran down a pedestrian, laughed and then repeatedly drove over him before speeding away, leaving stunned witnesses scrambling to help the victim, police said. The gruesome attack Wednesday night in the Mission District came three days after a similar incident outside a South of Market nightclub that left a man clinging to life. The driver in the first incident turned himself in to police Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. This latest case occurred about 11:30 pm at 20th and Valencia streets and left a 24-year-old man badly injured. Police and witnesses were stunned by the viciousness of the crime, which they believe was an intentional attack, and the callousness of the suspect, who a witness said laughed hysterically. "It was really disturbing, definitely the most disturbing thing I've seen," said one witness who did not want his name used. Police said they are seeking a 24-year-old man in connection with the attack who has a history of violence and who has lived in San Mateo, San Francisco and Vallejo. "He has a violent past, and we are concerned for everybody's safety who was involved in this incident," Inspector Michael Serujo said of the suspect. Police also refused to name the victim and a witness to the crime for fear the suspect might retaliate against them. The victim was in critical condition at a hospital, police said. The incident began when a dark blue Toyota Corolla, which carried four people and had been parked on Valencia for five to 10 minutes, pulled into a Shell gas station at 20th and Valencia streets as the victim approached on foot. "As soon as they came to a stop, before they had a chance to get gas, the two rear passengers jump out of the car and start chasing this guy down the street," Serujo said. They chased the victim around the block as the Toyota followed them, then sped up to make a U-turn and hit him, Serujo said. The witness said he had been driving in the area when he saw the victim beneath the Toyota. A stocky Latino with a crew cut, whom the witness believed to be the driver, was looking under the vehicle as a woman in the passenger seat screamed, "Oh my god, what did you do?" The woman snatched the keys from the driver, who grabbed them back after a struggle, police said. The witness said he had shouted at the driver not to move the car. The driver -- who the witness said appeared drunk -- got out of the car again. The witness said he approached the Toyota to write down its license plate number, and the driver jumped back inside and dragged the victim "two or three feet." The suspect then drove back and forth over the victim several times before speeding away, the witness said. The crime mirrored Sunday night's assault on Tesfamariam Sebhatu, who was nearly killed after being run down outside the 1015 Folsom nightclub. Sebhatu, 22, lost his left arm and suffered such severe injuries that doctors doubted he would survive. He remains hospitalized in critical condition and is steadily improving. He was dragged a short distance before the driver and two passengers tried to free him from the undercarriage of the Lexus before giving up an speeding away. The alleged driver in the Sunday case, identified by police as 33-year-old George "Junior" Delapaz Jr. He was charged Thursday with 13 felonies, including counts of attempted murder, vehicular assault, mayhem and torture. An alleged passenger, Carlton Willis, surrendered to police at 7:45 pm Thursday and was booked on one count of attempted murder and other charges. The two men, who are being held without bail, are expected to be arraigned on Monday. Chronicle Staff Writer Jim Herron Zamora contributed to this report. |