Based upon what I have read, this conviction is well deserved!  I hope the doctor loses his a$$ in the civil suit.


Dr. Christopher Thompson is handcuffed by L.A. County Sheriffs after being found guilty on all 7 counts. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times / November 2, 2009)

Los Angeles Times

Physician accused of deliberately injuring two bicyclists is convicted

Christopher Thompson, 60, is convicted of mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and other charges in the crash that injured cyclists Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr on Mandeville Canyon Road in 2008.

By Jack Leonard
November 3, 2009

A physician accused of deliberately injuring two cyclists by slamming on his car's brakes on a narrow Brentwood road was convicted Monday of mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and other serious criminal charges.

Dr. Christopher Thompson, 60, slumped forward and held his face in his hands after the verdicts were announced in a courtroom packed mostly with supporters and cyclists.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Stone, who prosecuted the case, asked for Thompson to be jailed immediately, calling him a flight risk and a safety threat to cyclists.

"There's not a cyclist in Los Angeles who would feel comfortable with this defendant out on the road after this verdict," Stone told the court.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington ordered that Thompson be taken into custody. Thompson, wearing a dark blue suit, grimaced and shook his head as a bailiff cuffed his hands behind his back.

The veteran emergency room doctor, who spent more than two decades working at Beverly Hospital in Montebello, was also convicted of battery with serious injury and reckless driving causing specified injury. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 3.

The three-week trial in the Superior Court's airport branch was watched closely by bicycle riders around the country, many of whom viewed the case as a test of the justice system's commitment to protecting cyclists. The July 4, 2008, crash also highlighted simmering tensions between cyclists and motorists on Mandeville Canyon Road, the winding five-mile residential street where the crash took place.

Prosecutors alleged that Thompson stopped his car after passing the two cyclists and shouting at them to ride single file. The cyclists testified that they began maneuvering to ride one after the other when they noticed Thompson's car approaching fast behind them but that the driver passed dangerously close before abruptly stopping.

Ron Peterson, a coach for USC's and UCLA's cycling team, was flung face-first into the rear windshield of the doctor's red Infiniti, breaking his front teeth and nose and lacerating his face. Christian Stoehr, the other cyclist, hurtled to the sidewalk and suffered a separated shoulder.

A police officer testified that Thompson told him soon after the accident that the cyclists had cursed at him and flipped him off, so he slammed on his brakes "to teach them a lesson."

Thompson testified that he never meant to hurt the riders. He said he and other residents were upset at unsafe cycling along the road, which has become an increasingly popular route for bicycle riders in recent years. But they had struggled to identify problem cyclists.

Thompson told jurors that the riders cursed at him and flipped him off when he yelled at them to ride single file. He stopped his car so that he could take a photo of the cyclists and believed he had left enough room for them.

But prosecutors alleged Thompson had a history of run-ins with bike riders, including a similar episode four months before the 2008 incident, when two cyclists told police that the doctor tried to run them off the road and braked hard in front of them. Neither of the riders was injured.

Outside court, the cyclists in the case said they were relieved at the outcome.

"Our hope is that this brings to light how vulnerable cyclists are out there," Peterson, 41, told reporters. His face was permanently scarred from the crash and he underwent reconstructive surgery on his nose, which he said remains numb.

Stoehr, 30, said the crash left him unable to work for months and that he rarely rides his bike anymore. Nevertheless, Stoehr said he felt some sympathy for Thompson as he watched the physician being led away in handcuffs.

"It's sad for both sides," Stoehr said. "I lost a lot of my time and my life, and he's losing a lot of his."

Some on here will put him up for a medal.

I've been following this on my cycling forum I frequent.

Now he will be "taught a lesson", and I hope it was worth his life.

Bye....asshole.

I must admit, I want to throw a bucket of scorpions onto most cyclitht-th I see out here.

He was definitely in the wrong and should be punished, but I have no sympathy for the cyclists. If you don't do everything to protect yourself, if you are totally oblivious, then I do not care when someone hits you.

He pulled in front of them, then brake checked hard.



 

Awesome. I hate people who hate cyclists.

Not to mention, a cyclist wants to go 30 MPH UNDER the speed limit and then bitch that they have the right of way.  

OBVIOUS TROLL IS OBVIOUS.

What the fuck does that have to do with the story in the OP?

Testimony in the trial indicated that the cyclists were traveling the posted speed limit.

believe it or not we have a right to be on the road, right of way sometimes, but a right to be on the road

but I wouldn't expect you to understand the law or anything

on certain roads you are required to maintain the posted speed limit or move to the side, other roads you are required to maintain your position in the lane regardless if you're "impeding" traffic

cyclists and the Amish may frustrate some drivers but what's your hurry? You're not that important

Sounds like they were riding side by side, in the road. I give those people enough room when I pass. Some people don't, and others do stupid shit like this. Protect yourself, don't count on random motorists to be your friends.



 

Feel free to hate me.

He was a double dumbass:

1)  Braking hard in front of the cyclists

2)  Admitting it to a police officer

I wonder if he's fat.

Probably.  Jealous bastard.

Good. He should go down for attempted murder.

They should make him ride a century on a Huffy 10 speed on the autobahn at night while it's snowing wearing all black

thanks, I'll get right on that

Don't piss a liberal off, especially when you are riding a bicycle.

Nothing like 3,000 pounds of metal to make a pussy feel like a man.

I've been on both of sides of this......There are idiot cyclist just like there's idiot drivers, but the fact is you can't assault someone on a 17 pound bike with a car.

The idiots on both sides are the main reason my road bike remains hanging in the garage.........I haven't gotten any nicer with age, so it's a bad combination.  That, and I can't afford to get hurt and not be able to work.

primum non cerum

+1

I'm sorry, but I think cyclist should be licensed to ride fucking bicycles.
Everytime I have to slam on my brakes because you thought you could beat me across the street and the car behind me damn near rear ends me, I feel like I should plow through you.
This also applies to people on cycles thinking that since its not a car you don't have to obey traffic signals such as stop lights.
Then & ONLY then will I respect you on the road.

Until I notice said cyclist violating traffic laws or being a doucher, I don't bother you. Althought I may give you a funny If you're riding agianst traffic on the side of the road.

All those years spent in medical school, and taking the oath, only to throw it all away in some stupid road rage incident.

A college team mate of mine is no longer alive because of a guy like the good 'doc. Some people can be very violent toward cyclists, and though I never did in my 12 years of racing... I carry when I ride now.

No question what that doctor did was completely wrong.  But when guys are riding side by side, sometimes three abreast, there's  a point where it becomes unreasonable.   In several states it's illegal to ride side by side.  But even in those where it's legal, where do you draw the line?  Do they have the right to block the lane completely at 15-25MPH under the speed limit?  In my area there's a group of 10-15 guys that ride in a pack every morning, always 2-3 abreast.  It's just not right.... if pedestrians did it they'd be fined in short order.   And these people are complete hypocrites - they claim they have the same rights as motor vehicles, but they break the law when they ride through every stop sign and red light.  I'm fine with people who ride single file (or at least change to single file when a car approaches) and are courteous. But those who just hog the entire road and pay no attention to other vehicles or traffic laws deserve no respect.

you must have voted for engineers in that other thread. Me too.

Yep!

 

Ummm... because we'll all do stuff like this guy?  

OK...

This.

What precisely should they have done to "protect themselves?"

I didn't say all...

 

I hope the good doc gets mouth boned in jail.

Personally, I sympathize with the doc, I have seen many, many times where bicycle folks ride 4-abreast blocking the entire lane. I have to wait until the traffic is clear the opposite way to pass them before I can get going again. Bicylce people should ride single file, especially on narrow streets and roads.

Funny, I heard a guy griping about "Critical Mass" folks down in Austin just last week deliberately riding around Austin at rush hour blocking major arteries out of downtown.  He was quite pissed.

When did the world revolve around you?

If there isn't a "shoulder" or a dedicated "lane" for them to use then they shouldn't be riding on the road. Why don't they do mt. biking instead??? There's no reason why they should be allowed to use the road when there are "trails" they can use.

They should but that doesn't give him the right to basically assault them with his vehicle...and you feel sorry for him? I hope the next time you make a mistake someone overreacts and physically injures you so I can side with them

Congrats, it's only the 2nd and we already have a very strong competitor for the 'dumbest fucking thing posted all month' award




 

because they are not restrained to the shoulder and if there is no bike lane the are subject to traffic laws and should ride in the lane legally, make sure you know what you're talking about before you contribute

yeah, plus nice inventory as a sig line

He should be up for a medal, God Damn the Cyclist here in middle tennessee and a bunch of Douche bag Faggots who hog the whole god damn fucking road and wont let you fucking pass. The got what they desirved the cunt tool homo dicksucking fairies. Maybe they will fucking pull over next time and let the cars pass on crowded 2 lane roads where the speed is 55 but we can only go 15 cause you think the whole god damn fucking road belongs to you bitch tit fat horse cocks

I take back my previous post.

 

You have issues that I don't think I have the time or patience to site. I'm not going to resort to name calling but there are people in Middle Tennessee that have more seats in their pickups than they do teeth in their mouths who throw beer bottles at cyclists to impress their "Uncle Daddy" sitting back home in a rocking chair on the porch. There is so much wrong with what you said...wow, I can't believe there are people like you.

Many bicycle riders are obvious to the cars that share the road with them. True, you shouldn't assault them riders, but nevertheless, the bicycle folks are also partly at fault for hogging the whole lane. I teach my children to ride single file on  streets, and to yield to motor vehicles. How many times have you been behind a 100 bicycle folks doing 10-15 MPH, definitely no fun.

Yes, and how many times have I been behind elderly drivers who are a little slow...should I run them off the road too? Or getting behind a truck pulling an overloaded trailer up a hill...should I put him in the ditch? There are irresponsible drivers and cyclists, you have to punish both but do it legally.