NYPD Body Slams Critical Mass Cyclist

For no known reason, an NYPD officer present at a critical mass bicycle ride body slammed a cyclist who, from what is seen in the video, did nothing wrong. Even if he did, the extreme use of force seen in the video was unwarranted. The result was the cyclist flying off his bike and hitting the pavement.

A New York Daily News article states that the police officer (most likely unaware at the time that the whole thing had been taped) wrote in his incident report that the cyclist actually hit HIM and knocked him to the ground! Unbelievable.

In court documents, Pogan said he saw Long weaving in and out of lanes and obstructing traffic before he ordered the cyclist to stop. The cop claimed Long deliberately drove his bike into him, sending both of them falling to the ground. Pogan claimed to have suffered cuts from the impact.

You can clearly see in the vehicle that the officer never said a word to the cyclist ordering him to stop and the man even tried to weave away from Pogan as he encroached on him. Pogan remained upright the entire time and NEVER even fell to the ground.

Pogan is a third generation police officer fresh out of the Academy. What did his veteran NYPD father have to say about the incident?…

Pogan’s father, a retired NYPD detective who worked on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, defended his son’s actions last night. “You gotta do what you gotta do to make an arrest,” said Patrick Pogan Sr., 51, who retired in 2002.

Guess it runs in the family.

~ by Anya on August 1, 2008.