Southern California - Keep Your Temper

Pasadena cyclist charged with kicking 13-year-old in jaw
Posted: 09/24/2009 12:09:53 PM PDT

PASADENA - A cyclist at the Rose Bowl has been charged with two misdemeanor assault charges after allegedly kicking a 13-year-old in the jaw.

The incident happened last week after the cyclist, 24-year-old Alhambra resident Paul Teal, collided with the boy while Teal was circling the Rose Bowl on his bike. The boy was walking around the bowl with his mother, police said.

Teal was upset at the boy, believing him to be responsible for the accident, according to Connie Orozco, the city's Chief Prosecutor.

He asked the 13-year-old if he was alright, then swore at him and kicked him in the jaw while the boy was still down on the ground from the collision, authorities said. He then biked off.

Police apprehended Teal shortly after by his car as he was preparing to leave the area, said Lt. Rodney Wallace of the Pasadena Police Department.

"He made a comment to officers indicating that he had been pretty angry about the incident," said Wallace.

Teal will be tried for a misdemeanor- the city does not have the power to charge him with a felony. The county's District Attorney office, which has jurisdiction for a felony, has so far declined to charge him, said Orozco.

A prosecutor in the office who was at the Rose Bowl happened to witness the incident by chance, added Orozco, and was asked to advise the District Attorney's office on whether to file charges or not.

If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, Teal could face up to two years in county jail.

24 year old kicking a 13 year old while the kid was down after having asking him if he was okay?.. How much more dishonorable can you get? If the teenager was some kind of hooligan who purposely did it I could understand but.... Jesus...

Dishonorable yes, but we're all susceptible to those raging hormones when we're tearing around at lactate threshold and something like this happens. I've been in a similar situation with a teenaged boy who was showing off to some girls by darting into my path @25+mph with no warning. I left two dark streaks on the asphalt, a cloud of profanity in my wake, and we're both lucky that he got away.

I left two dark streaks on the asphalt

...And one on your chamois?

Well...there's a part that's missing:


Teal will face misdemeanor charges, after the county District Attorney's Office declined the city's request for felony charges, Orozco said.

She said the city prosecutor's office is asking the county to review the decision.

"I try not to tell the county what to do," said Orozco. "But we're in the midst of a discussion with them asking them to consider the felony charges again." District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said her office reviewed the case before passing it back to Pasadena officials to handle.

If convicted, Teal could face up to two years in county jail.
Without being there or knowing where the accident occurred to trigger this incident, there may be more to this than what is being reported. Some riders go crazy with speed on the loop and don't look around for potential hazards and some pedestrians/joggers and/or kids will do the unexpected. There have been a lot of complaints from both sides and from the residents over the past few years w/o coming to any compromise or unwritten rules to follow to ensure safety for all.

Pretty hot topic on the net already:
http://www.topix.com/forum/source/pasadena-star-news/T0A7310SJERO2LG68

Well...there's a part that's missing:

Without being there or knowing where the accident occurred to trigger this incident, there may be more to this than what is being reported. Some riders go crazy with speed on the loop and don't look around for potential hazards and some pedestrians/joggers and/or kids will do the unexpected. There have been a lot of complaints from both sides and from the residents over the past few years w/o coming to any compromise or unwritten rules to follow to ensure safety for all.

Pretty hot topic on the net already:
http://www.topix.com/forum/source/pasadena-star-news/T0A7310SJERO2LG68

Disagree. The reporting is clear that a child was maliciously kicked in the face by an adult.

It sounds like there was a witness there who is going to make it pretty tough on this guy...

Without being there or knowing where the accident occurred to trigger this incident, there may be more to this than what is being reported.

Yeah, maybe the boy's mother laughed at the guy's spandex!

Yeah, maybe the boy's mother laughed at the guy's spandex!


CICLE will be launching their new family friendly (FAB Family and Bikes) rides today on the Rose Bowl loop... what timing! I hope their spandex unit makes a good showing... :D


But joking aside, there are not too many details about the people involved.

lol she said "spandex unit" :D

But yeah, it sounds like the guy was a raging ass. There may be an other side, but we'll leave that to the justice system.

24 year old kicking a 13 year old while the kid was down after having asking him if he was okay?.. How much more dishonorable can you get? If the teenager was some kind of hooligan who purposely did it I could understand but.... Jesus...


How about we reframe this without the exceptions...


24 year old kicking a 13 year old

Now enough said. Charge his ass with a felony LA. There's no excuse for this bull****.

I remember this incident. I was in the training ride and this happened at turn 2.

I may be wrong but the ****** in question was not a "regular" and one of those guys that has no business being in the pack. A couple of the regulars helped the family and acted as witnesses, waiting and talking to the police when they came.

I don't know the details after that.

There is just no excuse for this behavior and he just threw fire on an already volatile situation at the Rose Bowl. He really needs to be charged with a felony, he needs to go to county and not sit in city lockup.


Seperately,
With regards to the hostility between bikers and pedestrians, motorists:
The facts are that no one is obeying the rules of the road. Pedestrians DO NOT follow the rules, signs or traffic laws.

If you were to give a ticket to every violator at the Rose Bowl, the vast majority would be pedestrians. By far.

The issue is not that cyclists alone are the problem. The issue is a very crowded area, full of people trying to get in and out of this multi-use area where no one is following the rules and thinks a group bicycle ride that totals 2 hours a week, is the cause.

Guess what, that's not the issue.

How about we reframe this without the exceptions...

Now enough said. Charge his ass with a felony LA. There's no excuse for this bull****.
+1 Unless that sentence ends with "in self defense" I don't see any possible excuse.

Well...there's a part that's missing:

Without being there or knowing where the accident occurred to trigger this incident, there may be more to this than what is being reported. Some riders go crazy with speed on the loop and don't look around for potential hazards and some pedestrians/joggers and/or kids will do the unexpected. There have been a lot of complaints from both sides and from the residents over the past few years w/o coming to any compromise or unwritten rules to follow to ensure safety for all.

How about the peds/runners/walkers/rollerbladers stay within their designated lane? Is this so hard? Cars drivers somehow mange this (ok, well mostly). More than a few times I've been minding my own business rolling along and have had a non-cyclist (or somebodies dog) jump far out of their lane and had to take evasive action.

^ They need some kind of barricade between the traffic lane and the ped lane. One that discourages peds from crossing it over and over.