Off duty biker cop shoots a-hole

[T.P.]

http://www.suntimes.com/14432890-761/off-duty-cop-shoots-kills-angry-dad-after-wipeout.html

It's about time for another biased media covered shooting in Chicago involving an African American and a cop on a motorcycle. why no Sharpton and Jackson photo op for this one ?

I was at work this morning and couldn't finish the thread so I deleted the above only to finish it tonight.

[alph]

i see you deleted the "it's about time" comment you posted. 

after reading the article i'm surprised that you even posted it. 

Over zealot gun wielding psycho cop speeding through a neighborhood street hits a 4 year old little girl, then KILLS the girls dad 'cause he saw his precious child getting struck by a motor cycle and attacked the idiot who tries to hide behind his badge. 

I'm sorry, that cop should be shot himself. 

[DIGGER]

i see you deleted the "it's about time" comment you posted. 

after reading the article i'm surprised that you even posted it. 

Over zealot gun wielding psycho cop speeding through a neighborhood street hits a 4 year old little girl, then KILLS the girls dad 'cause he saw his precious child getting struck by a motor cycle and attacked the idiot who tries to hide behind his badge. 

I'm sorry, that cop should be shot himself. 

From what I read in the article the officer did everything he could to miss the girl.    As long as the cop wasn't drinking, or speeding.....I would say he did the best he could.    Then when the dad attacked him and straerted beating him he had to pull the gun to defend himself....that is why cops carry guns.   Sad Sad deal, but with the limited knowledge we see in the article the cop did nothing wrong....just a sad story all around.

[MAD6Gun]

 I went back and reread the article. Where did you get the idea he was speeding. I didnt see that.

I also dont see him "hiding" behind his badge. What I read was a tragic incident caused by a small girl runing into a street. He tried to avoid her at the expence of his own injuries and damage to his bike. The bike bounced into her. THAT DOES NOT give the father the right to start pounding on the guy, especially after the cop told him he was one.  He got what he deserved. The girl survived and thats good.  If that was me I would have shot the idiot too.

Get the facts streight before you starting spouting off.......

[X Ring]

i see you deleted the "it's about time" comment you posted. 

after reading the article i'm surprised that you even posted it. 

Over zealot gun wielding psycho cop speeding through a neighborhood street hits a 4 year old little girl, then KILLS the girls dad 'cause he saw his precious child getting struck by a motor cycle and attacked the idiot who tries to hide behind his badge. 

I'm sorry, that cop should be shot himself. 

Did you read the same article I did?

Marty

[pacowboy78]

Seems to me, as a dad, I'd be pretty pissed too.  However, I'd be more concerned with my son or daughter than the guy laying on the ground.  At least, I hope I would be.  Definitely would like to see more facts before rushing to judgement in either case, but it seems like the cop did everything he could to avoid the accident.

[judd]

To avoid striking the girl, the officer purposely ditched his motorcycle, putting it down on its side on the pavement, according to a statement from Maywood village spokesman Larry Shapiro.

But it skidded and flipped, striking the girl

What I read is "The officer panicked and hit the rear brake causing a lowside skid and to avoid going down he let up on the brake and highsided.

I don't have to wonder how this story would read if the tables were turned and it was the officers child that was struck ................. and chances are Mr Middleton would still be dead !!! 

I don't hate Cops, I hate how they are held above all accountablility................ 

[Bigdog]

you know thinking about my own life experiences, hindsight is 20/20.  There have been times when I've been the a-hole then others when i was able to keep a cool head. We were not there....

[big d]

can you please tell me where in the article you read this.
What I read is "The officer panicked and hit the rear brake causing a lowside skid and to avoid going down he let up on the brake and highsided.
stop reading into things with your colored glasses. it says nothing about the officer  panicking and hitting his rear break....

[bscrive]

From what I read in the comments about the article, I see that the speed limit is 25mph in that area of town.  I have to agree that the cop must have locked up the rear brake to put the bike down or was speeding.  25 mph is just not that fast to have to dump your bike to avoid someone or something.  Obviously his actions to lay the bike down was not a good idea since the girl was struck by the bike anyways.  This is a sad story of a whole lot of what not-to-do's, although, hind sight is always 20/20.  Everyone it seems was in the wrong and one Dad paid the ultimate price.

[jer0177]

Rubber stops a motorcycle far more effectively than metal and plastic.  Every time.

To avoid striking the girl, the officer purposely ditched his motorcycle, putting it down on its side on the pavement, according to a statement from Maywood village spokesman Larry Shapiro.

I don't read anywhere in the article that he was a motor officer, just that he was an officer - 43 years old, 8 years on the force.  We can't rely on him to have motor officer training, so he's any other rider at that point.  So he had an amateur reaction to the situation.  They cover in the MSF what to do if something appears in front of you in the road - the instructor in our class told people that hit the "imaginary cow" in the path that there was hamburger all over the road.  Had he taken the class and practiced his skills, he could have avoided a 4 year old child who more than likely panicked and froze - he obviously had enough room to high side.

"He was about to lose consciousness to people beating him," said Camden, defending the actions of the officer, who works in a West Side police district. "He fired in defense of his life."

He was about to lose consciousness?  Most people that I've seen that were about to lose consciousness don't have the facilities to unholster a weapon, turn off the safety, chamber a round (if carrying with an empty chamber), and fire a shot well enough to be fatal.  I don't disagree that he was being beaten up, but "about to lose consciousness" is a bit much, I think.

End of the day, someone is still dead, and it didn't have to be, but guns don't kill people, people kill people.

[Valker]

The cop needs lessons on how to ride properly, and if he'd had the proper braking skills, the whole thing might have been a non issue (like if the girl's 18 year old family member had not let her walk into the street). Cop or not, if I was being hit and kicked by two people on the street, I'd have shot too.
Hitting the kid and shooting the attacker are two separate incidents to me.

[MarkT]

We weren't there.  And nearly every time I WAS at some incident that was reported by a news org - both print and media - I've had to ask,  "Where you at the same incident I was?  Because you screwed up the reportage INCREDIBLY."   You can be assured this report poorly represents what really happened.  So any conclusions drawn from the suspect hypothesis is also suspect.

And BTW - it's likely the off-duty officer's gun might have been a point-and-shoot small frame large caliber auto - like a Glock 27 - especially since one shot killed the beater.  A manual safety cannot be assumed, and neither can the need to chamber a round - likely it was in Condition One. And neither can the "about to lose consciousness" claim be taken as a given just because it's in the report or said by Camden, who is supporting an agenda.

This whole report is suspect.

[Serk]

To me, the biggest injustice in this story is that you or I (Assuming you're not a cop) would be denied the right to defend ourselves, and would have ended up in a coma or dead from this mad dad.

As a dad, I can understand being mad as hell, that does NOT give you the right to start beating the guy to a pulp there on the spot.

(Not to mention one would hope his first priority would be tending to the injured girl!)

[Bigwolf]

Quoting Bigdog

We were not there....

+1

I do not trust any news media to report accurately.  I have seen the media twist too many stories to their own agenda for sensationalism.  What happened was terrible for sure.  However, I believe that anyone who did not see that situation as it was happening will never know what really happened.  We can only guess and in so doing, stir the flames of anger.  A terrible thing has already happened and I choose to not make it worse.

Bigwolf

[judd]

can you please tell me where in the article you read this.
What I read is "The officer panicked and hit the rear brake causing a lowside skid and to avoid going down he let up on the brake and highsided.
stop reading into things with your colored glasses. it says nothing about the officer  panicking and hitting his rear break....

Yes, I am reinterpreting the original statement, the way I see it.  That  is the standard statement one makes when braking incorrectly,  "I tried to lay the bike down to avoid a collision"  when what really happened is a skid and subsequent lowside caused by too much rear brake and or a highside when the rear brake is released. A technique long upheld by many Harley riders and their avoidance of using the front brake at all. (no I'm not saying it was Harley) I don't know that.  Just because a Cop says it, does not make it so, try to leave the title of Cop out of the story and see if you feel the same way, although I highly doubt the story would of been written in the same context and the biker would be in jail as we speak.

[alph]

what ticked me off was when T.P. started off with his comment (that he removed) that stated "it's about time"

as if he were saying "good, another dead n*ger".  i really hate how people rush to assume that because this dead father was perposly attacking an undercover police officer, even when the off duty cop says he's a cop. 

if it were MY CHILD, i'd have done the same thing to the ass hole, i don't care if he's a cop or not.  just to say he's a cop doesn't mean he has the right to draw a weapon and shoot.  if he were a good cop, he would have been able to avoid a confrontation, but dead men tell no tales now do they?

he was riding too agresively through a residential street, he was not able to control his vehicle, and then he kills a man. 

this whole thing ticks me off, what ticks me off even more are you idiots that say the cop did nothing wrong.  little kids run out into streets, so do dear, it is the riders responciblity to anticipate these situations, obviously he didn't, so now a daughter is without a father because of it.  and some irresponcable cop gets to go home to his family as if nothings wrong in the world.

[SANDMAN5]

I couldn't get the link to work (computer trouble) but it seems to me like
several people are "reading stuff into" the story. Guess I'll never know.

[judd]

Here ya go, you might as well get in on the story as well ............. 

Off-duty cop shoots, kills  angry dad after wipeout

An off-duty Chicago Police officer whose motorcycle struck a 4-year-old girl in Maywood, shot and killed the girl's father after the father and another man attacked the officer after the accident, officials said.


The officer — a 43-year-old, eight-year veteran of the force — was headed home about Saturday evening when the incident began, Fraternal Order of Police Spokesman Pat Camden said.

He was riding northbound on First Avenue in Maywood near Madison Street when he saw a girl suddenly dart into the street. To avoid striking the girl, the officer purposely ditched his motorcycle, putting it down on its side on the pavement, according to a statement from Maywood village spokesman Larry Shapiro.

But it skidded and flipped, striking the girl as well as her 18-year-old cousin, John Passley, who had run into the street to help her. When the officer tried to help the girl, her father, Christopher Middleton, 26, came out of a nearby restaurant and approached the officer angrily, shouting, according to authorities.

The officer told Middleton he was a police officer, but Middleton struck the officer in the face, knocked him to the ground and continued to hit him, according to Shapiro.

Passley joined in and kicked the officer, Shapiro said. The officer then drew his gun and shot Middleton once.

"He was about to lose consciousness to people beating him," said Camden, defending the actions of the officer, who works in a West Side police district. "He fired in defense of his life."

Middleton was pronounced dead at 10:14 p.m. at Loyola University Medical Center.

Middleton's sister, Tina Middleton, said her brother lived in Elgin with the mother of his daughter and was visiting relatives in Maywood, where he grew up. "He was a good person," she said. "I know for sure he wasn't out to harm the man. My brother would never harm anybody. I could understand him [the officer] being upset, but two wrongs don't make a right."

Middleton was due to be married Aug. 18th, his sister said. Besides his daughter who was injured, Middleton also had a 6-year-old son and an unborn child, his sister said.

Middleton's daughter suffered contusions and abrasions and was hospitalized overnight for observation.

The officer is expected to recover from his injuries but was left with contusions to his head and body from the attack and a possible broken leg and broken shoulder from the crash, Camden said.

Passley was being held by Maywood police for questioning, Shapiro said.

The Independent Police Review Authority — which examines all Chicago police-involved shootings — is investigating the incident, said IPRA spokesman Larry Merritt.

[donaldcc]

here are some other articles.  The first link is to a writer who is not so supportive of police.  The second link is google search for other articles.  I read through a number of them.  Some family members say the LEO did not identify himself as officer and others disagree.

 My thought is that if the speed WAS 25 mph the LEO must have been going too fast to end up laying bike down instead of being aware and avoiding girl.  My own opinion after reading is that officer lost control of bike and went down and allowed things to escalate or participated in the escalation.  Will likely never really know.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/chic-a15.shtml

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_nf=1&cp=29&gs_id=38&xhr=t&q=maywood+christopher+middleton&pf=p&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&oq=maywood+christopher+middleton&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=bb1985a4b0dff75f&biw=1093&bih=521

[Jess from VA]

1.  Child unsupervised.  (Dad at fault)

2.  Poor riding/braking skills. (Cop at fault)

3.  Man assaults police officer, and PO defends himself. (Dad at fault.... but the shooting board will find out if deadly force was necessary)

[2KVALKRIDER]

DO WE HAVE SPEALL CHECK ON HERE.... LEARN TO SPELL WORDS PLEASE     

[sugerbear]

google map 1166 south first maywood ill.

a jerk chicken joint on the right. next stop light is Madison.

speed limit sign is 35mph. houses very close to the street.

does anyone know how fast a little kid can run? ever tried to keep up with one?

the cop COULD have been within feet of her before he saw her.

your ASSUMING he was a harley rider type(no front brake).

how far behind was the 18 year old cousin?

could have been a vehicle parked on the side, little girl 6-8 yrs old. how tall was she?

do MOST officers wear their uniforms home?

WAY too many unknowns to make a call.

we'll never know 

[judd]

Link to other version fixed................ http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/chic-a15.shtml

[donaldcc]

Link to other version fixed................ http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/chic-a15.shtml

Thanks.  Noted that and went back to modify and add Google search of more articles.

[hubcapsc]

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-14/news/chi-man-charged-in-attack-offduty-cop-following-motorcycle-crash-20120814_1_motorcycle-crash-police-officer-south-1st-avenue

[Serk]

One of us (Who lives in a free state and is carrying) is riding through a residential neighborhood. A kid darts out in front of us, we lock up the bike and do everything we can to avoid hitting the kid, wreck the bike, and the kid is hurt.

Please keep in mind the issue is NOT if he was culpable in the injury of the child, that is irrelevant.

So anyway, somehow we've been involved in a motorcycle wreck and a child has been injured.

The child's parent and a second man gang up on you and are physically beating you.

You fear for your life, you're concerned at this point that these two individuals, no matter how righteous their rage at the moment, are going to seriously injure or kill you.

What do you do?

Just lay there and accept your fate? After all, it could conceivable be your fault that they're so angry, and thus... you should just accept your fate at this hands?

I would like to think that any rational person would make use of the tools available to them to stop someone from attacking you.

Keep in mind, this isn't a case where the father was actively trying to stop something from happening. Whatever happened had already happened, nothing could be done to change that at this point in time. At this point the rider was being beaten purely out of spite, anger and revenge.

So if he shouldn't shoot to defend himself at this point... what should he have done?

[ptgb]

...i really hate how people rush to assume that because this dead father was perposly attacking an undercover police officer, even when the off duty cop says he's a cop.

Not undercover, off-duty, big difference. I think that I would want to tend to my injured daughter foremost, not extract revenge on the person who hit her (be it cop or not). What you fail to realize is that he attacked the guy before he even knew he was an officer. The attack continued after he identified himself. The attack should have not happened in the first place, cop or not.

What if this was your son or daughter driving down the street who this happened to; being attacked by the girl's father, would you have the same attitude? Or is your attitude because he's a cop?

if it were MY CHILD, i'd have done the same thing to the ass hole, i don't care if he's a cop or not.  just to say he's a cop doesn't mean he has the right to draw a weapon and shoot.  if he were a good cop, he would have been able to avoid a confrontation, but dead men tell no tales now do they?

So instead of tending to your daughter, you would go beat someone?!?! Scary.

If he were a good cop he would have been able to avoid the confrontation? Did you read the article? He has/had a broken leg and shoulder from the crash! Yeah, pretty easy to avoid this confrontation huh? I guess cops have magical powers to still use avoidance techniques (physical or verbal) whether or not they are hurt or not. He did use a technique, before being beaten to a pulp or even being killed, he defended himself. Isn't that what the gun guys here preach all the time, the right to defend yourself? He shouldn't have that same right?

he was riding too agresively through a residential street, he was not able to control his vehicle, and then he kills a man.

Who said that? You ever been doing 30 or 35 and have a dog dart out in front of you? How about a car start to pull out of a parking lot? Oh yeah I forgot, "good riders" never have to use emergency braking or avoidance... just blood thirsty cops bent on running down little kids. Also, just because some city spokesman says he "laid the bike down" does not make that fact. Maybe he locked the front brake which dropped him... no one can say for sure. But the term "laid the bike down" is used commonly in situations where it was not a purposeful act.

this whole thing ticks me off, what ticks me off even more are you idiots that say the cop did nothing wrong.  little kids run out into streets, so do dear, it is the riders responciblity to anticipate these situations, obviously he didn't, so now a daughter is without a father because of it.  and some irresponcable cop gets to go home to his family as if nothings wrong in the world.

See above about ever having something dart out in front of you. He might not have anticipated the situation, but does that equate to ANYONE getting the snot beat out of them. The causation of this situation is obvious, off-duty cop may or may not have been riding prudently in the area, nobody knows. Little girl gets hit. So instead of tending to your beloved daughter, you extract street justice and it gets you killed. Be pissed all you want at the cop, attempt to sue his ass off, get him in trouble with the powers that be, all of that is fine... but the father made the choice to engage in his actions and that's what got him killed.

I would think that is pretty obvious to everybody, except cop haters.

[judd]

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-14/news/chi-man-charged-in-attack-offduty-cop-following-motorcycle-crash-20120814_1_motorcycle-crash-police-officer-south-1st-avenue

Right or wrong, I still believe if it were not a Cop and simply another civilian biker, both would be in jail right now, the one in the story for assault and the biker for use of deadly force or some such other charge.

[Gryphon Rider]

1.  Child unsupervised.  (Dad at fault)

2.  Poor riding/braking skills. (Cop at fault)

3.  Man assaults police officer, and PO defends himself. (Dad at fault.... but the shooting board will find out if deadly force was necessary)

1.  Even supervised children dart in to the street.  Even when they know better.
2.  Yes, it sounds like the rider is out of practise with his emergency braking skills, but he was surprised by a fast-moving jaywalker.  How many of us have done a home fire drill in the last six months or let our smoke alarm batteries die?

1 and 2 are preventable accidents, as opposed to deliberate actions committed with the present knowledge of the likely consequences.

I can agree with your point 3.

[Willow]

I agree with the earlier poster that the reports from the media do not give us the whole or accurate story.  We weren't there.

It's a tragedy.  I don't particularly fault the police officer for defending himself.  I would like to believe that a proper review would be done to verify whether deadly force was warranted.  Given the environment I doubt that will happen.

I can't tell the state of mind of the father.  Could it be the little girl was unconscious and he assumed her to be dead?  Even in his emotional state, whatever it was, he was wrong to attack an injured man and more so because of the involvement of his relative as well.

T.P., I love ya, man, but I'm very troubled by the immediate attachment of the term a-hole to a distraught father.

It's a tragedy.  Someone is dead. Maybe he was a thug.  Maybe he was a saint.  He's dead now.

I agree that we'll likely never know for sure.

[Titan]

...i really hate how people rush to assume that because this dead father was perposly attacking an undercover police officer, even when the off duty cop says he's a cop.

Not undercover, off-duty, big difference. I think that I would want to tend to my injured daughter foremost, not extract revenge on the person who hit her (be it cop or not). What you fail to realize is that he attacked the guy before he even knew he was an officer. The attack continued after he identified himself. The attack should have not happened in the first place, cop or not.

What if this was your son or daughter driving down the street who this happened to; being attacked by the girl's father, would you have the same attitude? Or is your attitude because he's a cop?

if it were MY CHILD, i'd have done the same thing to the ass hole, i don't care if he's a cop or not.  just to say he's a cop doesn't mean he has the right to draw a weapon and shoot.  if he were a good cop, he would have been able to avoid a confrontation, but dead men tell no tales now do they?

So instead of tending to your daughter, you would go beat someone?!?! Scary.

If he were a good cop he would have been able to avoid the confrontation? Did you read the article? He has/had a broken leg and shoulder from the crash! Yeah, pretty easy to avoid this confrontation huh? I guess cops have magical powers to still use avoidance techniques (physical or verbal) whether or not they are hurt or not. He did use a technique, before being beaten to a pulp or even being killed, he defended himself. Isn't that what the gun guys here preach all the time, the right to defend yourself? He shouldn't have that same right?

he was riding too agresively through a residential street, he was not able to control his vehicle, and then he kills a man.

Who said that? You ever been doing 30 or 35 and have a dog dart out in front of you? How about a car start to pull out of a parking lot? Oh yeah I forgot, "good riders" never have to use emergency braking or avoidance... just blood thirsty cops bent on running down little kids. Also, just because some city spokesman says he "laid the bike down" does not make that fact. Maybe he locked the front brake which dropped him... no one can say for sure. But the term "laid the bike down" is used commonly in situations where it was not a purposeful act.

this whole thing ticks me off, what ticks me off even more are you idiots that say the cop did nothing wrong.  little kids run out into streets, so do dear, it is the riders responciblity to anticipate these situations, obviously he didn't, so now a daughter is without a father because of it.  and some irresponcable cop gets to go home to his family as if nothings wrong in the world.

See above about ever having something dart out in front of you. He might not have anticipated the situation, but does that equate to ANYONE getting the snot beat out of them. The causation of this situation is obvious, off-duty cop may or may not have been riding prudently in the area, nobody knows. Little girl gets hit. So instead of tending to your beloved daughter, you extract street justice and it gets you killed. Be pissed all you want at the cop, attempt to sue his ass off, get him in trouble with the powers that be, all of that is fine... but the father made the choice to engage in his actions and that's what got him killed.

I would think that is pretty obvious to everybody, except cop haters.

PTBG makes all the sense in the world and is exactly right. His post lays everything out logically but some people here are just too hard headed to accept and understand it. Some people are just purebred cop haters and nothing anybody could say would make a difference to them.

[Titan]

i see you deleted the "it's about time" comment you posted. 

after reading the article i'm surprised that you even posted it. 

Over zealot gun wielding psycho cop speeding through a neighborhood street hits a 4 year old little girl, then KILLS the girls dad 'cause he saw his precious child getting struck by a motor cycle and attacked the idiot who tries to hide behind his badge. 

I'm sorry, that cop should be shot himself. 

What a crock of Sh$$T...
You are just absolutely full of crap and just spewing venom over the story simply because there was a cop involved. Folks around here are always preaching about carrying guns and defending themselves and talking about how they wouldn't put up with anybody messing with them. But let a cop defend himself and everything about the shoot was wrong and the cop should have been able to handle it differently. Yeah, cop haters are absolutely brilliant. And ya know what? I hate cop haters. Most of them carry around the big grudge because they've been arrested before and they just have to blame their stupidity on somebody else.

[biguglyman]

(Not to mention one would hope his first priority would be tending to the injured girl!)

+1

Only bad accident I've had in 40+ years of riding was when a 4 year-old kid ran out in front of me from the side of the road.  I was doing about 40 in a 45 because I saw the kid cross to the one side and wasn't sure if he saw me.  Even with slowing he was only about 25-30 feet in front of me when he ran out.  I remember thinking "what if he stops or turns around" right before I laid the bike down behind him.  He got a small gash on his but from being grazed by my crash bar/highway peg.  I refused transport to the hospital and treatment at the scene by paramedics.  To this day (20 years later) I still have no memory of what happened between that decision to ditch and the cop giving me a ride home.  I kept asking if the kid was ok every few minutes because I couldn't remember asking it the last time.  Accidents happen in a split second and we do the best we can depending on training, practice, and whatever our abilities are.  To second guess what happened from a news story is ridiculous.  Ended up with a concussion (ya think?) and some road rash... especially on my face.  That's why I wear only full face helmets now.  I feel bad for all involved but the Dad's first thought should have been for the kid, not beating the crap out of somebody.

[musclehead]

i see you deleted the "it's about time" comment you posted.  

after reading the article i'm surprised that you even posted it.  

Over zealot gun wielding psycho cop speeding through a neighborhood street hits a 4 year old little girl, then KILLS the girls dad 'cause he saw his precious child getting struck by a motor cycle and attacked the idiot who tries to hide behind his badge.  

I'm sorry, that cop should be shot himself.  

rushing to judgement is what got the country all wound up in the trayvon martin case.......

let's slow our roll......

P.S. I will say it seems a 'lead foot' is a requirement for most LEO agencies again, I don't know how fast he was going. (I bet we find out tho)

[steve 3054]

We weren't there.  And nearly every time I WAS at some incident that was reported by a news org - both print and media - I've had to ask,  "Where you at the same incident I was?  Because you screwed up the reportage INCREDIBLY."   You can be assured this report poorly represents what really happened.  So any conclusions drawn from the suspect hypothesis is also suspect." by Mark T

Of all posts this one makes the most sense...no one here was there, have no ideal what happen, and have we not learned yet that the newspaper article has a persons name attached who may or may not like/love bikes, love/hate the POPO...reminds me of the Martin/Zimmerman case while tragic, all are jumping to conclusions and one or two hate the POLICE in general...just sayin

[T.P.]

what ticked me off was when T.P. started off with his comment (that he removed) that stated "it's about time"

as if he were saying "good, another dead n*ger".  i really hate how people rush to assume.

Wrong on that count Alph, your the only one who has brought up race.  I guess you rushed to assume. T.P.

[mrprez]

The father would be alive today if he had not starting handing out street justice.  If he cared so much for his daughter why wasn't he helping her instead?

[buzz]

Ok, after reading most of the replies, it is obvious that there are some on this forum that hate cops and some that don't.  None of us was there to observe this terrible accident.  None of us has any idea as to what the cop's riding skills are.  Some if not most of us consider ourselves to have great riding skills until unpredictable situation presents itself.  And then, the oh crap factors and our entire so-called expert riding skills are out the window.  Now don't get me wrong.  Some of us will still be able to handle the situation by reserving to our experience, our skills and reacting accordingly to scenarios that we were involved in the past.  But trust me that most of us will not.  With that being said, when someone tells you that he is a law enforcement officer that means that he or she is probably armed and it should have been a clue to stop the assault (no matter how upset you are).  I don't see any indication that the cop was hiding behind his badge.  He did what I would do and many of us would in his situation.  Every one of us has a right to defend himself against serious bodily injury and he exercised his right.  

[big d]

Alph, why is  it if any one disagrees with you, you get personal and nasty. Why do you feel the need to always call people names. I feel sorry for you. Think you need to meditate a little for some zen.