The sheriff's dept just really has it going on:

A King County sheriff's deputy working in the Metro Transit Police Unit intentionally rammed a fleeing vehicle late Sunday, causing an accident near Pike Place Market before the driver was caught.

The use of the ramming maneuver, dubbed the Pursuit Intervention Technique or the Precision Intervention Technique (PIT), in a busy tourist area has prompted Seattle police to ask sheriff's officials to take a close look at the incident.

Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said the use of such a maneuver for an incident that began as a traffic violation is something that department policies discourage.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/282940_chase29.html

Sounds like the cops had a case of road rage.

OUCH!
Just realized how much that sounds like: "looks like someone has a case of the Mondays".

First of all PIT is NOT ramming. It is a controlled move when done correctly by a trained officer. I've seen PIT used and it does work. Can it go bad? Can there be crashes? The answer to both is yes. Officers do need pick a safe area to complete a PIT move.

Gee...illegally blocking an intersection got under someone's skin, and they happened to be a cop? 18 year old with beer in his possesion...etc.

Sounds like the cops may have been overzealous, but they didn't cause the problem, they reacted to it. Even the cyclists accounts sound like they were instigating trouble, then they act all indignant and shocked when they find it. I'm glad there aren't any CM rides where I live, I get to just ride around with traffic without having to deal with anyone that was pissed off by a bunch of bikes last Friday.

Yes. And in the end, it showed the public that cyclists are rogues with no respect for the law. These kind of rides continually set cycling, as a whole, back years.