There’s one less homicidal lunatic on America’s streets today. Christopher Thompson got five years for trying to kill a friend of mine and a couple of other folks. Character references, weeping and Bible verses failed to keep the gavel from crashing down. Bang. Five years.
Now, to show our gratitude, let’s see to it that there are fewer assholes on bikes eager to whip The Finger or a U-lock on anyone at the drop of a GU wrapper. You may win in court, but think about what you might lose on the street. I’ll bet my buddy Ron would take back a “Fuck you!” or two to have his OEM face back.
Mad Blog Media 
It’s amazing that the only time these people find religion is when they are going to do time.
Yeah,
It generally doesn’t happen until the guy meets his cellmate, the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Satan’s Slave with the Nazi tats, three teeth and an ominous bulge at the crotch, upon which the fresh fish screeches, “Jesus!” Too late.
Any bets as to the time he will actually serve?
Can we review the whole deal in 4.5 years, find out he’s still really an unrepentant, arrogant prick and then decide he should get another 5?
Good.
I’d have lost the farm, complete with my stump-broke mule and favorite ewe, if anyone had offered to bet me that Thompson would actually do hard time. I really thought he’d have to write an oh-so-sincere letter of apology, then serve several years of supervised probation coupled to community service (perhaps appearances at monster truck rallies, urging greater consideration for cyclists by way of merely spitting tobacco juice on them instead of whacking them with truck mirrors). But my cynicism hasn’t taken a full cure: I’ll still put up a really friendly sheep against your best hound that none of this will do much to make road-raging motorists pause to think, nor finger-flippin’ cyclists to grit their teeth and keep their hands on the bars.
Hey, John,
Long time no talk to. Yep, I told Charley P. at VN that it would not surprise me to see Thompson to walk with time served, a big-ass fine and some extended probation, maybe a dose of house arrest. But five years? That’ll do, especially considering the circumstances — rich white guy, ER doc, property owner in stylish honky enclave, everybody hates cyclists, etc., et al., and so on and so forth.
Will this scare the road-ragers straight? Naw. I’m sure you’ve seen or heard of the Facebook page that’s drawn something like 32,000 bike-hating motorhead fanboys. I won’t give the swine the pleasure of a link. A certain type of psychopath will always be impelled to act upon his worst impulses and then be surprised when someone takes umbrage.
Alas, when online goes offline, the whacko with the most lugnuts wins.
DAvid – sort of like a double minor for fighting right? Two fives make a ten-minute game misconduct so you sit for the rest of the period and then skate right out at the beginning of the next. Except ol’ Chris the Clown there won’t be massaging his blade for that next period. Just practicing his butterfly…
Seriously, I hope he does get out sooner than 5 years. I do beleive that as a convicted felon with a vehicular offense here in Cali he might actually get his license suspended. That can only mean that he’ll be either taking the bus (and LA buses aren’t known for being clean, sanitary or on-time) or………..a $69 bike from Wal-Mart!
That would be an awesome case of karma. But only IF he gets out before his five years are up.
An alternative sentence could have been motor vehicle license revoked and forced to ride a Sprawl-Mart $69 “mountain bike” up and down PCH every day for a few years. But that would probably be thrown out on appeal as “cruel and unusual punishment.” Enjoy your stay in the crossbar hotel, Dr. Thompson!
On Facebook, there are some 32,000 members of a group called “a-perfectly-good-path-right-next-to-the-road-you-stupid-cyclist.” Moral certitude cuts both ways. And in the end, they’re piloting a two ton land yacht with bumpers and airbags, whilst we’re on 16-20 pounds of exotic metal or maybe highly refined plastic, with our only protection being the thinnest of skid lids and possibly an ample belly.
This is my problem with the bike path movement – motorists think cyclists don’t belong on “their” roadways. No matter where the bike path goes, or how poorly engineered it is, motorists figure we oughta be on there instead of slowing their travel by a second or two. In Europe and especially in Italy, the roads are used by EVERYONE since most of ’em existed BEFORE there were any cars! People walk in the road, push baby strollers, ride bicycles and motorcycles as well as drive cars — all with relative harmony. Will this ever happen in the US of A? Nope, I bet the folks driving electric cars (once the dead-dinosaur juice runs out) in the future will be just as obnoxious and selfish with “their” precious roadways.
What Facebook page are you talking about Pat? Send me an e-mail if you don’t want to publish it. I hadn’t heard about anything like that.
It seems like an awful long time ago that O’Grady & I convinced then teenager Ron P. that there was life after mountain bikes….after a week on the skinny tires, we knew that Ron was going places. What we didn’t know was that 17 years later Ron would be part of what will become a historical decision. Use a car, go to jail. Good luck to Ron in civil court…I hear that new noses cost more than a Shimano DI2 groupo…
Peace ‘n Love and sometines a little justice
Wow Scott long time on see/hear.
Yep little Ron ain’t so little. But he’s no Fat Old Guy!
Hope he and his parents get some closure.
Hey, Scott,
You remember John O’Neill. He used to ride a bike, but devolved into a pedestrian. He and I now constitute the Twin Moons of Planet Bibleburg, and large moons they are, too. Passing SUVs have been sucked into our orbits.
Thompson is now in the System, which should do much to rewire the sense of entitlement that led him to believe he was qualified to teach “lessons” on road etiquette. He fucked up, as we all do, and got caught. I hope his victims go to civil court and pick what remains of his carcass.
The lessons I take away from this are these: Chill out, give a little to get a little, keep the temper under lock and key, pay close attention to those who didn’t learn how to share in kindergarten, leave the firearms at home, carry a cell phone with a camera, and keep one eye peeled for potential witnesses.
That’s a lot of stuff to take with you on a road ride, but as the man said, I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by six.
I gotta say, Patrick, your comments regarding the responsibilities of BOTH parties in this case are spot on. This was a case where both parties were in the wrong but one party blinked, snapped, and got caught.
While I certainly see the doctor’s crime in this case, I still consider the judgment unusually harsh. And you’re right about the entitlement bit; people of position in society, whether money, job, or politics, tend to get a pass or slap on the wrist for crimes that would put Joe the Plumber in the clink.
I’ve been in similar though not as extreme situations; I’d gladly give back a little anger to change history.
Five years works Ok for me, as long as the California Penal System actually keeps his @$$ inside. I bet he’s out on “good behavior” or due to overcrowding in less than 5. My thought was house arrest, with a pretty anklet, so he can pay his own way. Lost license, so he can commute by bike to the Tenderloin and do volunteer work at the free clinic. The aforementioned Wally World mountain bike to do the commute on would be icing on the cake for me…
PS I’ve long been a fan of the Foaming Rant and Maddog in general.
California is bleeding money like an extra in a Tarantino flick. Would be surprised if Thommy Boy does 2. Not because Justice isn’t blind, but because Justice has bills to pay and creditors calling around the clock. Something to think about … is justice served better by locking up this guy more so than putting him in the orange jumpsuit and having him pick up Clif Shot wrappers at a year’s worth of office park crits? Better yet, taking his car keys and making him bike to work for a year. Jail is satisfying to little pea brains, but three hots and a cot costs dinero that that could be spent on schools or bombing folks who don’t dress like us.