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Cyclist sues New York Police over body slam video incidentNew York cop video shove

Cyclist sues New York Police over body slam video incident

$1.5m dollars sought for cop's falsifying of reports...
by Tony Farrelly
Wed, Jul 08, 2009 09:22
3

The cyclist captured on video being barged from his bike by a police officer during a Critical Mass rally in New York last year is suing the New York Police Department for $1.5m.

The ex-police officer, Patrick Pogan who was caught on camera last year body slamming cyclist Christopher Long to the floor during the Critical Mass rally last year. After knocking Long, 30, from his bike Pogan who had only been on the force a matter of weeks arrested him for assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest – claiming in his reports that Long had been weaving through traffic and had refused to stop. The truth was only revealed when the case got to court and Long's defence lawyers produced the video – showing the truth to be very different.

Pogan was dismissed from the NYPD in February for making false police reports – Long's lawyers are now suing the police over these reports – citing the psychological trauma he suffered as a result. Long now lives and works on a farm in rural Wisconsin.

NYPD
Patrick Pogan
Critical Mass
Tony Farrelly

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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OldRidgeback | 15 years ago
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I have to say, I reckon it's a lot to do with the compensation and suing culture of the US. I mean, the cop certainly deserved to be sacked and the cyclist has every right to sue for assault and wrongful arrest, but $1.5 million is simply ridiculous. I don't belileve that stuff about the cyclist being so damaged by the event that he has to go and live on a farm, far from the madding crowd. If he'd stopped a bullet from the cop and had to undergo emergency surgery then the sum would be about right. But I can't help thinking he's a big baby if he goes crying off to the countryside and expects this sort of payout.

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Tony Farrelly | 15 years ago
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$1.5m is a lot but big numbers are the only way to get big organisations' attention and to get them to take on board that they need to tighten up their recruitment and training procedures - this guy had only just started working as a copy and already he was abusing his power, surely he should have been weeded out as being someone with the wrong sort of personality to be a policeman long before a tourist with a video camera demonstrated the fact.

Imagine what would have happened to that cyclist if by chance someone hadn't happened to be shooting what looks like a bit of holiday footage as he went past?

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Jon Burrage | 15 years ago
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$1.5mil is a lot but hey, go for it, they should take their recruitment more seriously and not employ people who are as unstable as this officer.

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