9/5/2008 Update:

Charges Dropped

Hoboken’s YouTube bicyclist is off the hook!

Today a Manhattan Criminal Court Judge dismissed charges against 29 year old Christopher Long, who was body-checked and knocked to the pavement by a New York City policeman YouTube video seen round the world. At the prosecution’s request charges of resisting arrest were dismissed after the video of officer Patrick Pogan putting the hurt on the “Critical Mass” biker was put up on YouTube. Before the video police said Long had deliberately steered into the officer, but the video showed otherwise. Without the video, he would have likely been prosecuted and the policeman still be on the street (as opposed to behind a desk and under investigation.)

See more from the NY Times.

7/29/2008:

I suppose this story is more interesting because there’s a (bruised) dotted line to Hoboken (the victim lives here). And of course, that it involves a member of the local law enforcement community.

From ABC News:

Video shows officer shoving cyclist

A police officer shown on video body-checking a bicyclist who was riding as part of a demonstration was stripped of his badge and gun Monday.

The video was recorded Friday at the Critical Mass ride, a monthly protest of urban reliance on motor vehicles.

The video, posted anonymously, shows the officer standing in the street as bikes whiz past. He moves toward a cyclist and violently knocks him to the ground in front of crowds of people.

The officer in the video was placed on desk duty pending the outcome of a police department investigation, chief police spokesman Paul Browne said. The officer’s name wasn’t released.

The biker, Christopher Long, of Hoboken, N.J., was arrested because he was obstructing traffic in the heart of Times Square, a criminal complaint said. He was charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

The complaint said Long, 29, deliberately steered his bicycle into the officer, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

During his arrest, Long squirmed and kicked, saying to the officers, “You are pawns in the game. I’m gonna have your job,” the complaint said.

There were no other arrests during the ride.

Long’s lawyer, David Rankin, said he hopes the Manhattan district attorney’s office will drop the charges. The district attorney’s office said it was investigating.

Long’s next court date was set for Sept. 5.

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