Caught on Film: Driver Attacks Bike Messenger
What a bastard. This makes me so mad.
Apparently, this driver was littering, threw a cup of coffee out his window onto this bike messenger. She threw the coffee back into his car, and the assault that ensued was caught on film by a passerby.
Something similar, but not nearly as dramatic, happened to me when I was messengering in Richmond. A guy almost hit me with his car, I didn’t yell, no rude hand gestures or anything, I just calmly rode away (which, admittedly was unusual for me) and he chased me down in his car, pulled alongside me, started cussing at me out his window. I finally got mad, pulled my u-lock out of my hip holster and hit his car with the u-lock and started yelling back at him.
Then, he whipped his car around in front of me — so that I had to stop — he jumped out and grabbed me by my shirt and starting shaking me. I’m sure that if I was a guy he would have punched me, but instead he was cussing and flailing around grabbing at me and not really knowing what to do with me. I was still holding my u-lock in one hand, so I drew it back as though I was about to clock him with it. That was enough to make him flench and let go of me, so I quickly got on my bike, got on the sidewalk and between buildings where a car couldn’t go. I rode around for a while winding around through alleys trying to make sure he wasn’t following me because the whole thing happened a couple blocks from my house and I didn’t want him to know where I lived.
A bum had witnessed the whole thing, I passed that bum a few minutes later on the sidewalk and he stepped to the side politely letting me have the right-of-way with a physical gesture that said “after you young lady.”
A year later, I was at a friend’s house and saw my friend Charlie that I hadn’t seen in years. He said that he had seen the whole thing and he was about to stop and get out of his car to beat the dude up. I was glad I had a witness because the story sounded too crazy and unbelievable. I’m glad this messenger (above) has proof!!
March 21st, 2006 at 6:24 pm
Shouldn’t the jackass with the camera have stopped taking pictures to help?
March 21st, 2006 at 8:06 pm
Yeah, that’s a good point. I have always wondered that when watching any act of violence or other-such emergency on video. I think for this messenger, in the long run having the photos was more useful. And luckily other people ran and pulled the guy off her.
March 23rd, 2006 at 1:57 pm
sometimes documenting an event is as much help to the victim in the final analysis than intervening (though plenty of people were already doing that, as you can see).
that was most definitely the case here.
thanks for the linkage, btw :)
March 30th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Sure thing, I actually came upon a crime scene similar to this, perhaps less dramatic, in my bike messenger work in NYC. You can see a photo that I took of the bike messenger that was hit by a car on flickr. I can’t think of a more clear image that shows it was the driver’s fault. I gave the cyclist my contact info in case he needed to use the photo in court, but he never contacted me.
March 11th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Holla back Richmond! You gotta watch out for people in the financial district, especially weekend nights. Its always a fun ride when your running through the traffic jam of angry “my job sucks so I take it out on the world” people.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:33 am
end of the story…
January 27th, 2008 at 3:12 am
I’m not a biker messenger but you guys are coooool shit, even though I almost nail 1 or 2 of you a week (not meaningly). Keep the rubberside down bikers……….
February 25th, 2008 at 5:13 am
As a cyclist I get harassed somewhat, however, being burly looking they never stop. I don’t know how you ladies do it! Men who hit women, for whatever reason, need to be pummeled. I was run off the road once, by a fat redneck, in FL. He did not stop, just laughed in the mirror. Here in NY we have wide shoulders, on the road, unlike down south. I get buzzed once in a while, but never have been ditched. I pity cage dwellers who don’t know about fresh air and solitude.
September 13th, 2008 at 6:02 am
I have interest of what kind of message bicycle delivers? I make mostly message to the telephone machine when someone is not in the house or just call back later. I saw some movie about this bicycle and all he did was break dance and hop around. I think in NYC a bicycle could bring to a person some small articles that can’t be fax or email. Am I correct? Texino-Panama