[Vision2020] Battery Case # 10-M11747: Citation 50859 Attached: Moscow/Pullman Daily News Public Records Report Falsehoods

Thu Dec 23 06:11:14 PST 2010

If your serious concern about local hate speech is valid, then "Yo,
why don't we step into the alley" is meant literally to indicate an
intent for violent conduct, in some cases, which is why such speech is
not as harmless as some indicate.

Therefore the physical attack against me is not so surprising.

But it is rather absurd for it to take the form ""Yo, bicylist, why
don't we step into the alley" for a "rumble"or a "brawl."

But sometimes operators of motor vehicles seem to view bicyclists as
an annoyance they would rather was not present on roads and
highways... as though they don't have a right to be there.
------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 12/22/10, Joe Campbell <philosopher.joe at gmail.com> wrote:

> This sounds terrible, Ted.
>
> On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 2:45 PM, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I was informed at the Moscow Police Dept. yesterday Tues. Dec. 21,
>> 2010, that the police report regarding my battery complaint described
>> in this email was not finished, but that Moscow Police Officer Casey
>> Green was working on this report.
>>
>> This email is being sent to Moscow Police Officer Casey Green, Moscow
>> Police Chief Dan Weaver, Moscow Mayor Nancy Cheney, the Latah County
>> Prosecutor, Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse (I have contacted
>> this organization regarding this case and received helpful advice),
>> the U of I Victims Rights Clinic, the Latah County Human Rights Task
>> Force and a number of Moscow/Pullman Daily News and Lewiston Tribune
>> representatives.
>>
>> If anyone witnessed the incident described in this email, i. e.
>> someone standing straddling a bicycle being aggressively pushed
>> (resulting in loosing footing and falling) down horizontally to the
>> pavement by someone else on the crosswalk on the south side of Hwy 8
>> at the intersection with Mountain View Rd., that occurred about 6 PM,
>> Sunday Dec. 19, please contact me at starbliss at gmail.com, or call
>> 208-882-8643, leave a message, or contact the Moscow Police Dept.
>> regarding Battery Case # 10-M11747 at 208-882-2677.
>>
>> Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010 at about 6 PM I was bicycling on the Latah Trail
>> heading east across the crosswalk at the intersection with Mountain
>> View Rd. on the south side of Hwy. 8.  A vehicle was heading north on
>> Mountain View Rd. approaching this crosswalk facing a stop sign at
>> that intersection, a street light was illuminating the crosswalk that
>> renders occupants of the crosswalk clearly visible at night, even for
>> pedestrians who not required by code to carry light (unlike operators
>> of bicycles), and I was operating a front and back light.
>> Nonetheless, I was bicycling very slow, given the snow and ice, and
>> that it's best to assume vehicles may have trouble stopping or drivers
>> may be inattentive.
>>
>> This vehicle entered the crosswalk in front of me, forcing me to apply
>> my brakes to prevent an accident.  There was no contact between my
>> bicycle and the vehicle, but the crosswalk was being blocked by the
>> vehicle.  I was then not riding my bicycle, but standing on foot
>> straddling my bicycle.  I merely stood in place straddling my bicycle,
>> waiting for the driver of the vehicle to either pull into Hwy. 8, or
>> what other courteous drivers have done in my experience in the past,
>> back-up to open the crosswalk.
>>
>> Within seconds, the driver quickly exited the vehicle and approached
>> me closely face to face, as the vehicle he had exited remained
>> blocking the crosswalk.  I do not recall the entire exact verbal
>> exchange between us, which was very brief, and I could hardly get a
>> word in edgewise, as they say.  I recall stating that I was operating
>> a light to the front of my bicycle, or words to that effect, but I was
>> baffled by what motivated this individuals behavior.  I have no
>> recollection of knowing anything about or meeting this person, either
>> directly or indirectly.
>>
>> I did not move from the spot where I was standing during this time,
>> and was holding up my bike still straddling it on foot, while also
>> holding a flashlight.  Again, the crosswalk remained blocked by the
>> vehicle this individual had been driving.
>>
>> I made no motions to initiate physical contact with this individual.
>>
>> After the very brief "conversation" this individual forcefully shoved
>> me to the pavement, which resulted in my legs becoming tangled with
>> the frame of my bicycle, with I and my bicycle stretched out
>> horizontally on the crosswalk/pavement.
>>
>> Again, to be redundant for emphasis, this physical contact/attack was
>> entirely initiated by this individual.
>>
>> I told the driver I was going to contact the police, got off the
>> pavement though leaving my bicycle in the crosswalk, and headed for
>> Hwy 8 away from the individual who had attacked me.  I was promptly
>> trying to avoid any further physical violence.
>>
>> I was quickly able to flag down a law enforcement vehicle that I think
>> coincidentally was heading east on Hwy. 8, close to Mountain View Rd.
>> I told this first law enforcement officer that I contacted in this
>> case that I had been physically attacked, and I pointed to the
>> individual that committed this act, who was, much to my amazement,
>> following me at that time.  The fact this individual who had
>> physically attacked me was following me on foot after this attack,
>> leaving his vehicle blocking the crosswalk referenced, while I was
>> attempting to contact police, I found highly alarming.
>>
>> After other law enforcement personnel arrived, I was questioned, and
>> what resulted can be described as "Kafkaesque" (as in Kafka's book
>> "The Trial").
>>
>> I was cited for battery.  The citation is attached to this email.  The
>> individual who attacked me was also cited for battery, and the
>> officers involved showed me a copy of that citation he was issued.
>>
>> Apparently, a passenger in the vehicle the person who physically
>> attacked me was driving claimed that, according to what I was told by
>> law enforcement officers, I had initiated physical contact with the
>> driver who had confronted me.  This claim can be read on the citation
>> for battery I was issued that is attached to this email.
>>
>> This claim is false, given the physical contact in this incident
>> (again  excuse the redundancy) was entirely initiated by the driver of
>> this vehicle who exited his vehicle, approached me closely while I was
>> standing stationary in the crosswalk straddling my bicycle, while the
>> vehicle he had been driving was left blocking the crosswalk, and
>> forcefully shoved me and my bicycle down horizontally to the pavement.
>>
>> Again, to be redundant, my bicycle did not contact the vehicle in this
>> case, nor did my body initiate any contact with the driver of this
>> vehicle, or the vehicle he was driving.
>> ---------------------
>> The Moscow/Pullman Daily news on Tues. Dec. 21, 2010 on page 4A in
>> their Public Records section under "Moscow Police" contains what
>> appears to be a description of my battery complaint, that is simply
>> false, as it reads below:
>>
>> Sunday
>>
>> 6:04 PM --Officers responded to a verbal altercation following a
>> vehicle versus bicycle collision at South Mountain View Road and Troy
>> Road.
>> ---------------------
>> What the officers were responding to was my battery complaint (I had
>> no complaint regarding the very limited verbal exchange involved),
>> there was no vehicle versus bicycle collision, nor did I indicate to
>> police that a collision had occurred between my bicycle and the
>> vehicle in question.
>> ---------------------
>> Below is the description of this incident from the Moscow Police Dept.
>> daily activity logs for Dec, 2010, available from the City of Moscow
>> website as given below:
>>
>> http://www.moscow.id.us/police/activity/2010_logs.aspx
>>
>> 10-M11747 Simple Battery
>> Incident Address : South Mountain View Rd & Troy Rd
>> MOSCOW ID 83843
>> Disposition : ACT
>> Time Reported: 18:04
>> Cad Comments:
>> RP advising of a verbal altercation that appears to have resulted from a
>> vehicle
>> vs bike. Officers responded and citations issued. Report Taken.
>> ------------------------------------------
>> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>>
>>