christoph1

Dear Members,

I am seeking information for my brother, an avid cyclist.
My brother was run over by a car in a designated bike lane while commuting home to
his wife and three year old son Wednesday evening. The driver of the vehicle ran
and left my brother in the middle of the road. Thankfully a bike messenger and some
locals pulled him from the road and called an ambulance. Remarkably after smashing
into the car at 15-20 mph, without warning (he said he never even touched the brakes)
his steel Mercier shattered but, he will be OK. Torn Ligaments and a Hamstring,
chipped and bruised but, alive. For a life long cyclist in his late 40's who commutes 4
thousand miles a year, he is talking about throwing in the towel. I will list the specifics
but I am asking for anyone in the Washington DC area who saw the accident or knows
anything about the deliver to contact me. For any information leading to the arrest
of the driver I will offer an cash reward. Thank you.


Time: 6:45 - 7:00 p.m Wednesday July 11th.
Location: East corner of 14th Street and Taylor Street, Washington, DC, NW.
Automobile: Green, blue/ green or blue sedan, probably a Honda Accord,
with Maryland Chesapeake Bay Decorative license plates, number 86570.
Witnesses did not identify the two small letters stacked on top of each other
on the plate. DC police say they cannot find driver without knowing what were
these letters.
Driver: African American. Appeared to be in 20s to 40s.
Incident: Bicyclist was traveling north approximately 15 to 20 mph on
14th Street in bicycle lane with right of way. Car moved into bicycle
lane just a few feet in front of bicyclist, who was not able to break or
swerve to avoid. Bicyclist smashed into and dented car on at front of front,
left quarter panel and flipped over handle bars and part of car hood into
traffic lane of 14th street. Driver immediately left scene of accident.

heebro

hi

sorry your brother got nailed. glad he is ok. forget about depending on dc cops to help you. get on the horn with md mva to figure out the possible letter combinations and then cross reference to color and make. its kind of a no brainer. here's a place to start:

https://www.marylandmva.com/Resources...Tag_Scheme.pdf

later
dave in dc

PS you could also try going to that area around the same time and look for the car.

The Human Car

I got this responce on another list:

arcurlyq

I was in the area around this time, probably riding just a bit ahead of your brother. I am not certain, but I think this was the day I was almost hit as well when I was on Arkansas Ave NW (heading towards Georgia Ave NW). It was a dark colored car with chesapeake plates driven by a black male. This guy swerved to get around a car, almost hitting me, and then he ran a red light at Arkansas and 13th. The only thing is that I thought it was earlier than the time you noted on your email (closer to 6:30), but I could be wrong. Either way, please contact me at arcurlyq@yahoo.com. I have corresponded with Chief Lanier regarding this issue. I have been hit several times (thankfully none of them serious incidents) but was extremely frustrated by the total lack of assistance provided by the MPD. They can locate this driver using the license plate numbers you have and the car model; I think all chesapeake bay plates have "CA" as the two small stacked letters. They can also run a wild card search. Email me and I can give you more information about Chief Lanier's response and what you can do to get some justice.

Bklyn

MODERATOR: I suggest moving this to Advocacy and Safety, where it will reach a broader audience. Also maybe cross-post in Commuting.

This is nuts. ANOTHER hit and run? This is a symptom of the breakdown of society. I'm not being hyperbolic. It's one thing for a driver to dent another car in the parking lot and not leave a note (which is distressingly common). But to hit another person — and watch the guy flip over the hood!? And then leave? Nail this guy, please. And definitely contact the metro desk at the Washington Post:
General numbers: 202.334.6000; 800.627.1150.
Metro desk direct line: 202-334-7300.
Not sure who the transportation beat reporter is. Whoever answers the phone will know.
And pitch the story this way: Cyclists online are pissed off and helping one another find the hit-and-run driver. Otherwise, it'll never get reported.
Good luck.

The Human Car

FWIW I’ve PM the op and have not gotten a response back, to get results we need the cyclists or someone close to the cyclist to start the ball rolling and be in contact with the local bike advocates (WABA.) Moving the thread will not help if the op is not participating.

Freewheeling Sp

Is there a question about whether the report is legit?

Bklyn

Who's the mod in here? This needs to be in A&S, I believe.

The Human Car

It’s more I suspect he forgot where he posted this or he is checking his email very infrequently.

donnamb 

I will make a copy of this for the Advocacy & Safety forum, as well as Commuting. There's no problem with cross-posting in a situation like this one. To the OP: You will want to check all 3 threads, as they will diverge once I make the copies. I wish you well in your information search.

pmseattle

I can't believe the police can't use this info, which is detailed and specific, to catch the person. The DC police have a reputation for corruption, which may be part of the problem. I would get an attorney with a private investigator. An attorney may have the knowledge to pressure the police to do their jobs, and an investigator would be able to use the information you provided to identify the perpetrator and do an end run around the obstructive police.

The Human Car

Just to give you an update the op has been over run with emails and the wheels are turning to get the perp. Thanks to everyone who has helped!

Mr. Underbridge

You have to be kidding me. I'd think that, after all these years, some moron in the Police or DMV would create some way of doing partial matches on license plates if they can do it for fingerprints. There's only 676 maximum possible combinations of plates missing two letters. How many of them have the special license plate? Maybe 50? How many of them are Honda Accords, possibly 3?

If they truly can't do that, our law enforcement is in a really bad way. I don't believe him, personally.

Good luck. I can't stand even driving in DC.

donnamb 

I'm not sure how it is in D.C., but here in Oregon, even a full plate number isn't enough. You must have a physical description of the driver, as well.

The Human Car

I’m not an expert on this but there are criminal charges and there are insurance claims. ID’ing the motorV will assist in an insurance claim to cover medical bills, loss of income and bike replacement costs. And with the motorV being involved in a hit and run will most likely result in higher premiums for the owner. So basically getting an ID on the motorV will help.

timmhaan

a small gesture, perhaps, but i would be willing to donate a used frame that i have lying around if your brother wants to eventually get back into cycling. it's a 58cm specialized. when things settle down, send me a PM if interested.

littlewaywelt

A description of a driver isn't needed anywhere. That's up to the discretion of the prosecutor in terms of having enough evidence to proceed with charges.


Insurance and monetary claims from the accident are a civil matter.
The hit and run is a criminal matter.

If there isn't enough evidence to go forward with criminal charges, you file in civil court, where the preponderance of evidence (not reasonable doubt) is the standard. Here you'd only have to prove that it was more likely than not (51%) that the owner was the driver.

Mr. Underbridge

It seems to me the primary issue is finding the guy who matches the description - which should be able to be done with the partial plate - after which they might be able to get a warrant to collect more evidence (from, say, the car, which may have sustained damage from the impact). This evidence would be what would be used at trial.

Before that, one must find the car that probably did it, which should be quite possible from the information available. It sounds like the cop was speaking on the technical matter of locating the driver (which should be relatively trivial) vs. the ability to prosecute him (which would likely depend on further evidence).

littlewaywelt

I agree, but in court, without a physical description of the individual, establishing the driver beyond a reasonable doubt is a tough sell. In the end they'll have to prove the owner was driving, which might not be easy. In any event, this isn't the place to discuss these nuances. Let's just hope they catch the sob.

Dchiefransom

Actually, it should be easy to find out whether the owner was driving, or not, but if he was, it might be hard to prosecute him. Ask the owner under oath if he was driving at the time, and if not, who was. If he was not driving, then he HAS to answer truthfully. Only if he was driving can he refuse to answer under his rights.

littlewaywelt

He doesn't have to testify at all. If he doesn't testify and is smart enough to not answer any questions made by the police, they will have an extremely difficult to impossible time convicting him. ...and people lie under oath every day.

Mr. Underbridge

These sorts of cases are pretty common. At some point, "reasonable doubt" doesn't imply "no possible doubt at all." If I'm on the jury, and the prosecution can prove that his car hit a pedestrian, he'd better come up with an alternate driver or I'd be happy to convict. The old "Gee, I don't know who was driving my car!" routine won't hold up long. He'll have a hard time arguing that it was stolen if they find it in his driveway.

As for point of fact, you're right - he doesn't have to testify at his own trial, and he doesn't have to answer questions without a lawyer present. But if they tie the car to the accident, it could be in his best interest to do so.

In any event, this is definitely offtrack, but I would still recommend finding other cops to talk to, because the notion that they can't find the guy without a full plate seems insane to me. College kid with a CS degree could write software to do that.

Kuma

Does anyone know if they caught the guy who did this?