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.
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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.
I hate these CM assholes! They clog up the streets and have NO permits or authority for their Unlawful demonstrations. The next time I see them I’m going to drive my hummer right down the middle of the road!
Can someone tell me why the cyclist, instead of slowing down, ducks his head as if expecting to run right by? Look at it. He ducks his head like he know he needs to avoid him. I wonder if he did something that the cop was going to stop him for, it sure doesn’t show what the cyclist did before the cop slams him. I mean doesn’t it sound bizarre that this guy body checks the cyclist in front of SO MANY PEOPLE?
I hate cops. They just suck so much ass.
NYPD is the biggest organized mafia in US. Go on street level and see whats going on. They abuse, steal, torture and lie to judges on regular. Not to say there are no few good cops, but very few in NYPD. its been proven over and over and over…
this story is another example of a nice dish of e-justice being served! man, i love it when pigs get pwned by the same power they claim to be upholding!!
How could this cop ever think he had the right to do this to someone? Because he is wearing his shitty uniform that anyone who has graduated high school can get. I hope he gets a year and some hefty fines to boot.
I think this calls for extraordinary rendition.
The only plausible explanation is that kid must have been giving the cop the finger as he approached him (off camera). Something like that to antagonize the cop.
But yeah, good riddance.
You guys really need to understand what Critical Mass is before you make a comment on this article. It is an organized event by cyclist to TAKE OVER public roads by blocking busy traffic on certain Fridays of each month. This does nothing but give a bad name to bicycle enthusiasts! Riding bicycles to/from work is a great way to reduce pollution and is a great exercise. Riding your bicycle in the middle of traffic preventing drivers from getting home to their families on time on a Friday night is NOT! What do these people want to prove? The majority of people doing this just want to look like a rebel and make a statement that they’re a complete douchebag.
The cop did not act out of line. If I was a cop, I’d tackle one of these guys too. These people are the scum of our society.
RockyZ,
It’s really your position that cops are free to tackle people who have done nothing other than participate in an organized protest? Wow.
-Alex