The police officer who was infamously caught on camera tackling a bicyclist in New York City was fired on February 10th, seven months after the original incident.
As we reported here on Planetsave, former officer Patrick Pogan, 23, has been arraigned under charges of falsifying records. We’ve now learned that he has plead not guilty to the charges in Manhattan court and could face up to 4 years in prison if convicted.
The Manhattan District Attorney said that the YouTube video footage along with witness accounts clearly contradicted Pogan’s claim that the cyclist was “obstructing government administration” and resisting arrest. The cyclist had charges dropped soon after the video became available.
Pogan was a rookie officer and he has still not given a legitimate explanation as to why he tackled the cyclist. We have learned that he was an offensive lineman on his high school football team — perhaps that could explain a bit?
The power of YouTube footage also came in handy recently with the case of a teenage boy who decided to upload footage of himself torturing a cat. Once the video spread, people from various message boards and social media websites traced the boy’s name and location, eventually resulting in his arrest. He and his brother, who filmed the abuse, have been charged with two counts of animal cruelty.
If you’re not one of the 2 million people who have seen the footage of the cyclist tackle, check it out below.
UPDATE: The New York Times is reporting that Pogan’s lawyer claims that Pogan “resigned” from the force and was not fired, contrary to the statement released by the police department. Also, I’ve made a small correction — it has only been about 7 months since the incident, not over 18 months. Silly me, I’ll have to use a calculator next time I try such a tricky math problem late at night.
Via: Daily News Photo Credit: Doug Letterman on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
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Alex Felsinger
Alex is primarily concerned with animal welfare, wildlife conservation, and environmental justice. As a freelance writer in San Francisco, he leads a deliberately simplistic and thrifty lifestyle, yet still can’t help gawking at the newest green gadgets and zero-emission concept cars.
55 Responses to Cop Who Shoved Cyclist Fired by NYPD, Faces 4 Year Sentence
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only a dumb cop would say that
hahahaha that is great!!
little 130lb punk dropped like a sack of bricks!
I’m a phone man by trade and have often been mistaken for a cop, had guns nearly drawn on me so I do not envy cops duties. I have several friends on local police forces but assholes like that heathen who knocked the cyclist off need to be shot by the next generation of punk assed 15 year olds.
Both of these cops are a**holes who need an ass whooping by someone with the same mentality as them. Effing cowards, both of them. I hate to wish ill will on others but I hope both of those faggots get whats coming to them.
Haha, dumbass, actually they are now rich with cushy jobs so they have time to slag on bad cops at work.
This idiot bully should have been charged with assault as well; the videotape clearly supports that charge. The DA’s office wimped out.