This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, June 12, 2008
News Tasered For Not Having A Bike Light?
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 8:01 AM
Reverend Phil Sano, who seems to be the only bicyclist in Portland, judging from the number of times his name crops up, is alleging he was Tasered by Police on Tuesday night for not having a bike light. The story is up on Bike Portland, and I've got a call into the cops' spokesman, Brian Schmautz. In the meantime, a witness over at BP says this:
“…the cop took two steps after him, grabbed him by the shirt, yanked him off the bike, ran hum up the sidewalk and slammed him against the wall and then right away started tasing him.”Sano says he didn't stop when asked to by a man in a black suit—that he couldn't tell the guy was a cop, and that he didn't hear that he was yelling at him to stop. Either way, bike lights are a good idea in Portland, it seems. More on this story as we have it.
–Diana Spartis (she witnessed the entire incident)"
Update, 10:15: Brian Schmautz sent this information to journalists:
On June 10, 2008. at about 9:22 pm, Sergeant Smith and Officer Hoesley were riding in a car together in the area of Southeast 7th and Alder when they encountered a woman wearing dark clothing riding a bike with no light. The officers were in uniform and turned on their lights to alert traffic while they talked to the woman. While they were out with the woman Phil Sano, who was also on a bike with no light, rode by. One of the officers told Sano to stop, but Sano ignored him. The officer, then reached out to stop Sano and they began to struggle. Sano refused to comply with any of the officers orders and continued to resist until additional officers arrived. The officers attempted to Taser Sano, but it was ineffective because of Sano's clothing.I'd be interested to hear from Sano and witnesses how this aligns with their perception of what happened.Sano was eventually arrested and taken to jail. Sano apparently admitted he had been drinking, but was not given field sobriety tests because the officers were not arresting him for DUII. FYI, the officers checked Sano's history and learned that the Police Bureau had given Sano a warning for a bike light and a free bike light in the past.
Commenting was not available when this article was originally published.
1
Don't forget people we have a CRITICAL MASS on June 27th
TIME TO TAKE BACK OUR STREETS!
FRIDAY JUNE 27TH
1 NW Naito Pkwy (Underneath the West side of the Burnside Bridge)
5:30PM
4
If you can be tasered for back-talk, why not missing light.
Those things are a menace -- at least how they are currently being used.
Bp
5
as "someone" was able to film the entire
incident from a distance and now the film
is being worked on to filter out noise
and enhance the audio portions, and then
a mass media dump of the footage will be had
to give the PoPiggies yet more grieve
and expose their cover-ups and lies for
the entire world to see for themselves...be sure to keep an eye out for the "dumping" for it will be a major
dumping on the PoPo! Cheers!
7
"Why not just ride with a friggin' light?"
Being tackled, tasered, and arrested does not seem to be a reasonable consequence of failure to have a light on one's bike. Not even as a second offense.
In fact, being a "bike asshole" doesn't justify being tackled, tasered and arrested to me.
But hey, I'm part of the crazy far-left liberal anti-torture crowd.
8
This is the equivalent of driving with a burnt-out headlight on your car. Would the cops run you off the road in an unmarked squad car and tazer you within an inch of your life? No, they'd probably do the whole lights-and-siren ("hey, we're cops") thing and actually ask you to pull over before deciding that you were evading and taking extreme, life-threatening action. The same level of communication and reasonable procedure should be used for bike stops-- otherwise we end up with black-clad men tackling, assaulting and injuring people over incredibly minor crimes. Apparently the PPB loves losing huge amounts of money in court settlements. I guess if it preserves their fucked little status quo of brutality and invulnerability, they can afford it.
9
As one who drives and bikes - the idea of hitting a drunk cyclist with no light coming out of nowhere is ALWAYS a terrifying thought in this town, especially on weekends. I see it far too often.
Good for the cops.
10
this incident will be the undoing of the local chapter of the Brotherhood of the Strong that has bullied their way with the rest of the PoPo for far too long, as words on the street is that this is finally the incident that will take the unending and ongoing "problems" Portlander's have had to content with for far too long with inept out-of-control killer-kops as this story is going "national" and once it does, there'll be some serious ass-kicking going on at City Hall...starting with Tom's and then Rosie's and on down the line, as the Power's That Be in this state will not be able to content with all the "negative attention" that'll be focused on the issue and Portland...not after such a successful Rose Festival and Parade event...so, folks, this is IT for the errand PoPiggies...they've finally shit in their own plate...now, let's make 'em eat it and ask for more!
11
If he was riding one of those tall bikes, maaaaybeeee, I might look the other way on this one.
No, not really. Probably shouldn't have been tasered & all that.
But tall bikes? Come on, seriously? No, seriously. Why?
12
from what I'm hearing...this is it 4 the PoPigs
By all means keep telling yourself that. Childhood imagination land is a precious and wonderful thing.
13
It easy to forget to throw your light on your bike. It's more likely to happen then a brake/headlight burning out on a car.
Does this warrant a tasing? Hell no.
This taser bullshit has got to end. We have every right to question police as to their intentions when questioning us. I'm sorry but it's not correct to assault someone for being "difficult".
I seem to remember something about the police not being able to claim someone is resiting or not "pulling over" if they (the suspect) are on/in a moving vehical and the police do not use a vechical with police lights.
Example: If I'm driving a car at a slow speed (think downtown traffic) with my window down and I take a turn at a corner with out signally (a tick-able offense) and a cop is standing on the corner I'm turning at and sees me - he can yell at me to stop but doesn't have to right to jump in my window and yank me out.
However, the police can tackle someone on bicycle?
That seems like a huge inequity to me.
If bicycles are suppose the follow the rules of the road like cars then they be should subject to the safety procedures police follow when pulling over a car.
15
Phil was not on a tall bike.
If someone on foot can step up and pull you off your bike...you are clearly not "evading arrest." If he was evading arrest...they would've needed to hop on their motorcycles.
They know they were wrong. That's why the court dropped the big charges instantly.
I'm glad that cops are ticketing cyclists for not having lights. Lights are really important and not having them is more likely to get you killed than rolling through stop signs (shame on you, RevPhil!). That said...I wasn't picturing cops pulling cyclists off their bikes without identifying themselves, throwing them to the ground, and tasering them. That's...less what I had in mind. In fact, that's seriously fucked up.
They were trying to teach the witness a lesson? I think she probably learned a few. Hopefully these officers will, too.
16
It'll be interestng to see the proof here, but I have an extremely hard time believing that this guy was tackled and tasered simply for having no light.
17
In response to 'D':
No I would rather not get shot but maybe I need to explain what I mean by "this taser buillshit".
What I mean is people getting tasered for basically no reason. The taser is a a lethal weapon in fact (albeit very rare) . Would it have been ok for the police to have hit the cyclist over the head with a heavy duty flash light? I don't think so.
What about the that "Don't tase me bro" guy, he got tasered for being verbally difficult not for posing a threat to anyone physically.
How about I compare apples and apples. Police seem to favor tasers over a physical restraint like an arm bar/head lock/whatever. If given the choice between being tased and the other, having been electrocuted before I would choose getting restrained physically.
But all of that is besides the point. The core of the issue is that police in this city use bad judgement with the use of force. Guns, Clubs, Tasers and Fists it doesn't really matter what they are using but the fact that they are using them at all.
19
1) The police have probable cause of a traffic violation. That gives them the right to detain.
2) If the subject refuses to stop, the police are basically obligated to give chase. Argue if you want, but you cannot have a lawful society where people can choose whether or not to obey lawful commands given by law enforcement officers. If the police say "stop", you must stop.
3) If, in the course of attempting to lawfully detain an motorist (bicyclist), the officers use a reasonable amount of force, and the motorist continues to resist, the officers must respond with appropriate force.
4) The amount of force deemed "appropriate" depends not so much on the original reason the officers had for detaining the subject, but on how much force the subject uses to resist the officer's lawful attempts to detain him.
5) If the subject in this case refused the lawful command to stop, resisted the officer's attempt to detain him with force, and used such force that the officers felt it was necessary (within reason) to use the taser...well, obviously he got his ass tazed.
Not using a bike light is not a reason to get tazed. Running from the cops and resisting with force, that is how you get tazed.
20
"Drunk guy on bike breaks law and gets tazed!" The cops are TOTALLY going down for THIS one. It's going be NATIONAL NEWS! Keep dreaming, hippie.
21
Dex - you were not there and do not know how it went down. We only have seen statements from one person - the arrested, and one officer who was not there.
See some guy's reply.
22
I think what most of you are missing with this is that he was not specifically tasered for not having a light.
He was tasered for evasion of an officer who delivered an order. At the point of refusing to stop for the officer, any argument that he did or didn't have a light, red shirt or short enough hair is totally void.
If they were holding the taser out so he could ride into it because he didn't have a light that would be a different story. Believe me, this taser shit is out of hand and they need to get a handle on how often they use the shit but some of you really need to quit reading only the parts of the story you want to acknowledge.
23
@D,
Yes and I have a tendency to believe the accused at this point considering the Portland Police's poor track record when it comes to appropriate use of force as well as past relation of vehicular law to bicycles.
You are obviously slanted to the view of pro-police and more importantly con-bicycle. I would postulate that you are the type to think cyclist also don't have a rights to a whole lane in traffic?
You may be afraid of hitting and killing a cyclist who has no lights and may be drunk, poor you.
I'm afraid of getting hit and killed by a drunk or not drunk motorist with no concern for cyclist rights.
24
Dex -
a)Show me the convictions for police who were in the wrong/unjustified in using appropriate force - the definition is much different than you think it is.
b)Your postulations on my views have nothing to do with who has the rights to what lanes, that argument is invalid in this case - since he wasn't cited for violating bike lane laws and I never made any statements to the pro or con of what I think bike lanes legal definitions should be/are.
c)
1- I hit a drunk cyclist with no lights=I'm crucified by the press and cycling community in this town, my fault or not.
2- Poor you - you ride a bike drunk with no lights, rights or not, and get hit=you're even more fucked.
25
what do you want to bet that "D" has an
IQ of between 50-60 and while the rest of
us laugh at him, he's proud of that fact?
26
Everyone please go to this website and listen to what an eye witness has to say.
http://kboo.fm/node/7722
27
There's no question that the cops are quick to taser. On the other hand, how do you ride by a traffic stop and not realize when a cop is pulling YOU over? I dunno.
I'm sick of the cops "use force first" practices but some of you militant cyclists are exacerbating the whole situation with your agenda and antics. For Rev. Phil to be riding around with no light almost borders on taunting. This guy should know better. That alone is not worthy of a tasering but not stopping for the police? Hmmm...
28
A big round of applause for the witnesses who came forward. Too many times the Portland Police due this behavior and one cannot find a witnesses due to fear, etc.
Can you imagine if this guy belonged to a group. He would not just gotten tasered but homeland security would have come out with their tanks.
Not a Good Queer on Google
29
for the record:
I couldn't stop immediately because I was sitting up on my bike working the zipper on my jacket. I saw a large man coming at me all in black who did not identify himself as a police officer and I did not recognize him as such.
There was no warning of my impending electrocution. The 1st blast did not penetrate my clothes. When I did realize they were cops I obeyed their command to get down. After I got to my knees I was electrocuted again, for a long time, screaming in pain and begging for them to stop.
Also, my bike light holder had been stolen. When the cop found my bike light in my fanny pack he seemed rather remiss, but never apologized for anything.
Thanks to those who have been supporting me, I hope this never happens to you.
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