If Possible, Record Video of Interactions with Police

Our friends at Greater Greater Washington recently posted a story where a person riding his bicycle was assaulted by someone in a pickup truck and then ticketed by police. In light of that incident, Jed Weeks, Bikemore’s Board Chair, shares his experience with the Baltimore City Police from last September:

On September 28th, 2013 at 2:15am I was riding my bicycle home from the end of the Baltimore Bike Party after-party with my girlfriend riding several yards behind me.

As we were riding northbound on Huntingdon Avenue, approaching 29th Street, the driver of a black Mazda 6 blared her horn, revved her car’s engine, and swerved her vehicle at my girlfriend, nearly striking her.

This vehicle pulled up alongside me at the intersection of Huntingdon and 29th Street where I was waiting at the red light. I gestured at the driver of the vehicle with an incredulous hands-in-the-air motion and yelled “What do you think you are doing?”

At this point I saw a passenger in the Mazda hand a pair of scissors to the driver, who then exited the vehicle holding the scissors, and began to scream that she would “f**king kill us.”

I called 911 as the driver reached back in her vehicle and grabbed various objects and hurled them at me, culminating with an open bottle of water that struck me in the chest and drenched me. The driver of the Mazda got back in the car, and ran the red light, turning left onto West 29th Street and disappearing.

Minutes later, several police cars and a paddy wagon arrived. Police Officer Pitts refused to take a report of the assault at the scene, saying “the driver may have just been a DUI and may not have purposely swerved at you.” When I said I was not satisfied with her response to my request for a report, Officer Pitts implied if I were to be any more difficult, I may end up in the back of the paddy wagon myself.

At this point I asked for the officer’s badge number and my girlfriend and I rode back to her house 2 blocks away. I then wrote an email to Lt. Colonel DeSousa, the Chief of Patrol, who had tailed Baltimore Bike Party that evening in his cruiser. He immediately responded, saying the officer should have filed a report, and forwarded my correspondence to the Commander of the Northern District. Several days later, Detective Plater from the Northern District called me to go over my story from the evening. He said he would interview Officer Pitts and get her side of the story, and then get back to me. About a week later he called me with a police report number, and told me that Officer Pitts had been disciplined for failure to write a report at the scene.

I was very pleased with the attentive nature of the police officers I dealt with in the follow-up to this incident, and I requested a copy of my police report, which I received a month after filing my official request and payment for a copy of the report.

The report claimed “that an unknown black female driving a red car, possibly a Mazda, threw water at [my] face after [I] banged on her car window and yelled at her to exit her car.”

That did not happen, and I never said it happened.

So, I followed back up with Northern District. Unfortunately, Officer Pitts maintains I said it was a red car, and that I said I instigated the incident (as outlined above). According to the Police (and despite my girlfriend backing my story), this comes down to a he said/she said situation, and Northern District cannot change the report as written, nor can they take any further action with Officer Pitts.

The police officers in leadership roles that I have spoken with seem to take poor performance from officers in their department very seriously, but without physical proof they are unable to take appropriate action.

As a result of this drawn out interaction, I suggest video recording all interactions with Baltimore Police patrol officers, no matter how insignificant. If I had recorded my incident, there would be proof that Officer Pitts was being untruthful, and I am 100% confident the commanding officers and detective I spoke with would have acted quickly and professionally to deal with unprofessionalism and dishonesty in their ranks.

Record your interactions with police if possible, and contact Bikemore if you are treated inappropriately by the police.

Bikemore Statement About Street Attacks

As we posted earlier today, another person was attacked while riding his bicycle this past weekend on Guilford Avenue in Greenmount West. Attacks like this have been reported sporadically over the past few years — not just on people riding bicycles, but people walking as well — usually along Guilford Avenue and Charles Street between Mount Royal Avenue and 25th Street.

These incidents do not represent the actions of all Baltimore City youth. Many City youth ride bikes for transportation or otherwise get around Baltimore peacefully, and many engage in positive after-school bicycle activities like the Baltimore Bike Experience at Digital Harbor High School and Baltimore Bike Party.

The only way to know what motivated the specific group of youth who appear on the video is to ask them, but we suspect that if Baltimore had more productive adult supervision and more safe places for youth to learn and engage in positive activities, this incident would not have occurred.

Obviously, there must be consequences for assaulting another human being, but we should also use this unfortunate event as an opportunity to teach young people the impact of their actions and address the underlying causes of the assault.

Bikemore is actively engaging with the police and community leaders to ensure the neighborhoods along the Guilford Avenue Bike Boulevard are safe for commuters and residents alike, regardless of one's chosen mode of transportation. We hope this incident promotes a constructive dialogue about increased after-school and evening opportunities for youth in our city.

If you would like to be part of this dialogue, please feel free to contact us.

Beware on the Guilford Bike Boulevard

You may remember last April, there were a number of assaults on cyclists around the Copycat Building on Guilford Ave. This author was among the riders who was threatened but escaped physical injury. Mark Brown, former blogger at Car Free Baltimore, wasn't so lucky and incurred physical trauma.

According to this YouTube video and its accompanying Facebook post, these assaults are back. Here's the report from the victim:

[Video above] recorded on 4/12/14. Attacked by a group of teenagers on the bike route on the 1600-1700 block of Guilford Ave. You can hear when they threw a bottle at me from behind and then see when I try to grab my lock as a last resort as they started to attack, but dropped it. Grabbed it before they did. Only damage was to my thumb when they stomped it. Took punches, but they must have hit my helmet, because I don't have any marks. Camera cuts out at the end around this time. On the ground I started yelling "help help help". Residents started coming out and a distant siren scared them off. Called 911 after and met with an officer a few minutes later.

Please exercise extreme caution in this area. If you experience or witness an assault, report it to police and send them a video (if possible) to see if any faces can be made out. Feel free to contact BIkemore and we will initiate contact with our main people at the BCPD.

Be safe out there.

Seeking Witnesses To Catonsville Car-Bicycle Crash on March 13 - Please Forward Widely!

On March 13, sometime in the late afternoon or early evening, Bikemore's treasurer Tim Adams was riding his bicycle home from work when a car hit him at the intersection of Wilkens Avenue and South Rolling Road in Catonsville, near UMBC. (Interestingly, the Google Street View image of that intersection features someone on a bicycle.) He suffered severe injuries to his hip and his head, and had to undergo multiple surgeries, although he is slowly regaining his health.

Tim’s family is seeking eyewitness accounts of the accident. If you have any details that could aid the investigation, please contact info@bikemore.net and we will put you in touch with the family.

Delivering Meals and Good Will by Bicycle

Top row (L-R):  Ashley Beam, A.R. Rahmaan

Middle Row:  Mark Stephen, Eloise Hardy

Bottom Row:  Dale Johnson, Nick Lamb

Guest Post for bikemore.net by Susan Glenn

On a brisk March morning, Dale Johnson zips through the streets of Hampden on a classic green Bianchi road bike. Stopping on the porch of an insurance agency on Roland Avenue, he opens a cooler and loads up his bike basket and backpack with prepared meals destined for five home-bound Baltimoreans. In minutes, Dale and Meals on 2 Wheels are on the road.

Dale is the driving (or rather not-driving) force behind a small but growing band of volunteers who deliver meals by bicycle throughout Hampden, Waverly, East Baltimore, and soon even in Columbia. A retired geographer and now active volunteer, Dale charts bike-friendly routes through Baltimore streets, back alleys and “bike-likely” suburbs; recruits and guides cycling volunteers; and personally delivers meals twice a week with only the occasional “vehicular time-out” for snow storms.

It all began in September 2012 when Dale was looking for volunteer opportunities. “Meals on Wheels is a great organization and, checking their website, I saw this tiny notice for delivering meals by bikes. But that program had actually kind of died when the previous volunteer leader moved out of state. When I contacted Meals on Wheels about resurrecting the program, they were very enthusiastic.”

So with MOW’s blessing, Dale equipped his bike with a basket and Meals on 2 Wheels signage and hit the streets, delivering food and generating good will from clients, people on the street and in their cars.

“For the folks I deliver to, I may be the only person they see all day or all week. Riding up to their doors, just opens up the conversation. They see you out there on your bike, doing this on a winter day, and they just give you a lot of credit.”

"Take Ms. LaRue, for example.  She’s 97 years young and still so sharp and witty. It’s a joy listening to someone with almost a century of life to share. I still smile when I think about her asking me to make sure I tell my wife that she thought I have nice looking legs. At 61, I have to take those compliments when I get them. "

Dale loves the reaction he gets from drivers, too. “I pull up to a stop sign with my bike and Meals on 2 Wheels basket and drivers pull up beside me, roll down their windows, and tell me what a great thing I’m doing. Sometimes they’ll tell me stories about how Meals on Wheels helped their families. And you just feel like you’re out there doing something to help and having a great time doing it.”

From his initial “bike party of one”, Dale has grown the program to six cycling volunteers. And he’s planning new routes and looking for more recruits. As Dale explains, “You can volunteer just once a month, two times a week, or just during fair-weather months—whatever fits your schedule. Most routes only take 30 to 45 minutes, but you can get in a good training ride from your house to the meal pick-up point.”

If you love to cycle and want to help people who truly appreciate your effort, contact Dale at dale.johnson99@gmail.com or 443-841-4372. Donations of cycling equipment for volunteers are also needed and appreciated.

Meals on Wheels:
Founded in 1960, Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland is a nonprofit organization that enables homebound seniors and disabled individuals to eat well and remain in their own homes in Baltimore City as well as Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, Montgomery & Prince George’s counties.  In FY 13, a dedicated staff and volunteer core prepared and delivered over 1,000,000 nutritious meals to homebound seniors. www.mealsonwheelsmd.org