On 10/20/17 one of our member cyclists was assaulted by two assailants launching projectiles from a car traveling at 50 miles per hour, enabled by the fully culpable third assailant, the driver. Our initial post, which includes our video deconstruction and time slicing of the incident, is also linked from our home page.
On 11/20/17 the Alameda County Sheriff submitted Assault for all three assailants to the Alameda County District Attorney. The driver and the rear seat passenger are juveniles, the front seat passenger is an adult.
Our member requires anonymity and doesn’t have the time or expertise to work this case so we are serving as her advocate. We have persistently called the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, since the Sheriff submitted Assault, to learn the official charges. We now know most of the clerical staff by name and the names of their various databases because this case has been consistently impossible to find. On 1/24/18 we finally spoke with the District Attorney who told us he charged the adult with Misdemeanor Assault on 11/20/17. He said once he charges the case he submits his notes to the clerical staff and does not know anything beyond that.
It turns out that this case is one of many others sitting in the DA’s “overflow box” waiting to be entered by the clerical staff. Once entered we will have a case number and the court process will actually begin.
As of yesterday the clerical staff said the system shows the DA charged the adult with Misdemeanor Battery. Some day, once the case makes it out of the “overflow box,” we will know the official charge for the adult.
We still have not ascertained charges for the juveniles.
Is justice delayed justice denied? Do these assailants believe they got away with Assault and Battery? Will they be emboldened to assault other cyclists in the meantime?
We think in terms of Jurisdictional Risk. Does the fact that such an incident is indefinitely trapped in the Alameda County District Attorney’s “overflow box” mean Alameda County is inherently riskier for cyclists?
Please add your voice to the conversation by adding your comments below the post.
Always ride with a camera and submit all of your egregious near miss incident reports to our free Incident Management System
Please be sure to ride with a camera and submit all of your egregious near miss incident reports to our free Incident Management System so you can track, analyze, update, and map your incidents. Once your incidents are entered all cyclists will be able to search for those specific license plates to identify repeat offenders, hopefully before collisions occur!
We work with our members, law enforcement and government to establish legal precedents ensuring law enforcement accepts cyclist video evidence, without a collision, to cite and prosecute egregious near miss incidents such as this case and the Glendale, California assault case on our home page.
Even if law enforcement refuses to enforce the many California Vehicles Codes and Assault and Battery in this case, our Incident Management System will always have highly detailed information on this incident in the event this driver repeat offends. It’s much more difficult for law enforcement to refuse to enforce the laws when you can supply a pattern of behavior.
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For everyone’s good, including the accused, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office needs to act. Battery is a frightening addition to the hazards we face daily on Alameda County’s streets. Cyclists suffer too many hit-and-runs and too many close brushes with speeding or inattentive drivers, and little has been done to keep things from getting worse.
One thing that can be done is to punish offenders, causing other potential offenders to take note. I urge the Alameda County District Attorney’s office to give priority to this violent. life-endangering crime and to others of this sort.
It is outrageous that this clear cut case is being delayed. Nancy O’Malley, Alameda County District Attorney, is up for re-election this fall of 2018. Perhaps it is time for a change if she is not taking threats to cyclists seriously. Why the bias? What do we need to do to change their minds? We are finally getting some cooperation from law enforcement only to be thwarted by the District Attorney? It is disheartening,disgusting and unacceptable! Nancy O’Malley, please prosecute this case.