Cop Who Shoved Cyclist Fired by NYPD, Faces 4 Year Sentence
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.
- » See also: MSNBC to Air 2 Hour Special on Animal Conservation: “100 Heartbeats”
- » Get Planetsave by RSS or sign up by email.
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.
“awesome hit… let the cop go” LOL! You’d be the first one whining if the bicyclist were you.
I am a 20 year U.S. veteran and far from tree hugger, I also believe this punk cop and others like him must be severely punished. These guys get to exercise great power and control over the rest of us so they must be held to a higher standard when they break the law and especially when they lie about it! Put that scumbag cop in jail for 10 years as a start!
Sam F: I feel your pain, and agree with some of your opinions as well.
Sean: I hope you get hunted down and charged with making terrorist threats, punk boy.
It’s easy to be a bad ass on the interwebs. There’s no one there to kick yer ass!
I’m a peaceful dude, but I could see assaulting some critical massers, they are some of the most annoying people on the planet. I hate that damn thing.
That cop is a disgrace to every honest man who wears a badge. Hope everyone makes his transition back to civilian life as miserable as possible..
4 years is ridiculous!
Playing Oline in HS football has nothing to do with this idiots behavior. He is a grown man who decided to put his brain on hold for a few seconds.
I’d like to think there’s a good reason for this, it was obviously intentional. I simply don’t understand why anyone (cop or not) would do this. It seems mean spirited and unjust. If it really is that transparent and there wasn’t a deeper reason here I hope besides being fired/resigning, I hope he’s brought up on charges and extra charges for abuse of authority.
This cowardly cop should be in prison - where he can cry himself to sleep each night after he gets “shoved”.
I hate these biker pricks that don’t obey traffic laws and try to disrupt everyone’s day that are obeying laws, and just trying to get from one place to another. I ride a bike for fun, but a “shove” is nothing less than they deserved.