Tag Archive for Azusa Police Department

Bike-riding victim ID’d in Azusa motorcycle cop crash, Angeles NF crashes, and murder charges in 2020 Venice shooting

February 4, 2022 / / Comments Off on Bike-riding victim ID’d in Azusa motorcycle cop crash, Angeles NF crashes, and murder charges in 2020 Venice shooting

We finally know what happened.

Yesterday, we complained about a lack of transparency from the Azusa Police Department, which still hadn’t explained why happened when a motorcycle cop killed a bike rider in a collision in the unincorporated Charter Oak area on Monday.

Now the victim has finally been identified as 67-year old Xueqi Li.

Li was reportedly crossing Cienega Ave at Asherton Ave when he was struck by the off-duty officer, who was traveling east on Cienega on his way home.

The officer remains hospitalized in stable condition.

However, there’s no explanation for why the crash happened. Or why Li’s age had been estimated as anything from his 40s or 50s, or why he was originally identified as a pedestrian.

The collision remains under investigation by the CHP. Anyone with information is urged to call the Southern Division Investigative Services Unit at 323/644-9550.

Hopefully we’ll learn more soon.

Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels.

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This is the downside of riding in the Angeles National Forest above Los Angeles.

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Something tells me they could use this in the rest of the country right about now.

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Mitt Romney was one of us, riding a bike during his Mormon mission in France in 1968.

https://twitter.com/FrenchHist/status/1489300642476662787

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. A British county councilor complains that a decision to invest the equivalent of $13.5 million in new bikeways is “not money well spent,” arguing that it doesn’t make sense to spend 10% of the transportation budget on bicycling when only 1% commute by bike. Which is exactly why more people don’t.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

Police at Louisiana State University are looking for a theft suspect who was last seen riding away on a bicycle.

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Local

Two men face murder charges in the fatal shooting of a young mother outside bike rental shop on the Venice Boardwalk in December 2020.

 

State

The new federal infrastructure bill will require California to spend 15% of Highway Safety Improvement Program funds on protecting vulnerable road users, under a provision for states where bicycling and pedestrian deaths make up over 15% of overall traffic deaths.

Despite a business owner insisting she never sees anyone using San Diego’s new 30th Street bike lanes, a recently installed bike counter shows an average of 282 people using them on a daily basis.

The death of a recumbent rider outside a Fresno park last month was due in part to a 2008 decision making it difficult to access unless you’re in a car.

Berkeley ripped out a block of brand new barrier protected bike lanes after discovering that truck drivers couldn’t access a medical center campus. Which they probably should have figured out before they built it.

A Gold Country writer sets out for her first bike ride in a couple years, and surprises herself with how much she enjoys it.

 

National

Travel site Lonely Planet recommends the best bike trails for your next trip to Bozeman, Montana.

That’s more like it. A pedaling Minneapolis pastor is on a one-man mission to get bicycle traffic reports on the local public radio station, rather than just the usual auto-centric traffic updates.

The state’s decision to take back a San Antonio, Texas roadway to halt a planned road diet is called a big blow to safe bicycling in the city.

A New Jersey man faces charges of vehicular homicide, speeding, reckless driving, careless driving and improper passing for killing a 62-year old woman riding next to another person; he was doing 75 mph in a 50 mph zone, and trying to pass on a blind hill when he swerved back into the victim to avoid a driver coming from the opposite direction.

DC is pledging to build another ten miles of protected bike lanes this year, with a goal of doubling the current 24 miles of protected lanes within the next few years.

She gets it. The head of Georgia’s Department of Transportation blames bad driver behavior for a jump in traffic fatalities, saying nine out of ten times a driver is at fault.

 

International

Canada’s Global News offers advice on how to keep riding your bike through the winter. Some of which even applies down here in sunny California.

A London ebike rider captures the moment he was barely able to avoid a bikejacker, who sprinted towards him from the side of the road; another person had his bicycle stolen at knifepoint in Birmingham.

The Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain and Luxembourg all pay people to commute by bike, so why doesn’t the US?

 

Competitive Cycling

Pez Cycling News recalls pro cyclists who were never the same after suffering serious crashes.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you almost run over Oprah on your moped. Or when a mortician refuses to ride a bike in a bike lane.

And here’s the perfect note to end the week on.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

$5,000 reward for felony hit-and-run, repaving Rose Bowl Loop, and still no details in bike rider killed by Azusa cop

February 3, 2022 / / One comment

The LAPD wants your help to bring a heartless coward to justice.

Last month, we reposted a plea from a man who was run down by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike on Glendale Blvd, near the offramp from the 2 Freeway, on January 16th.

He was lucky to escape without serious injuries, somehow scrambling to safety as the driver crushed his bicycle.

We couldn’t embed video of the crash at the time, instead including stills from a dashcam video from a driver who captured the whole thing.

But the LAPD’s Central Traffic Division solved that problem, tweeting a hit-and-run alert yesterday that not only included a link to video of the crash, but also the dashcam driver chasing the hit-and-run suspect as he fled the scene.

As usual, be sure you really want to see the crash before you click on the first video, because many people may find it disturbing.

The LAPD report indicates there’s a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the driver, which is the standing amount for any hit-nd-run involving property damage in the City of Los Angeles.

However, the driver is being sought on a charge of felony hit-and-run, even though the victim wasn’t seriously injured.

Usually, any hit-and-run just involving property damage would be considered a misdemeanor under California law, but it can be charged as a felony if the amount of damage exceeds a certain level.

And no, I haven’t been able to find out just what that level is. But apparently, the damages in this case exceed it.

Meanwhile, Wesley Burt forwards a Nextdoor exchange from a couple of women who can’t seem to conceive of someone driving around with a dashcam, without some nefarious purpose.

Naturally, they blame the victim for being up to no good.

And Streets For All founder Michael Schneider points out this rash didn’t have to happen in the first place, if the city had taken its own mobility plan seriously.

Let alone Vision Zero.

Here’s how KCBS2/KCAL9 described the crash.

The suspect vehicle is described as a 2012 to 2016 Hyundai Elantra, with likely right front-end damage and a missing right front hubcap.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Juan Campos at 213/833-3713, or email 31480@lapd.online. You can remain anonymous by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 800/222-TIPS (8477), or going online at LA Crime Stoppers.

Thanks to Jeff Vaughn and Thomas Riebs for the heads-up.

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The popular Rose Bowl Loop is getting a new coat of asphalt.

https://twitter.com/reutimann/status/1489055340188422144

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Nothing fishy here.

Three days later, there has still been no information released about the crash that killed a bike rider when he was struck by an Azusa motorcycle cop.

Nothing.

We don’t even know anything about the victim, except that he’s a man.

This lack of openness by the Azusa Police Department makes you wonder just what they’re trying to hide.

And creates doubts about their credibility when and if they finally get around to telling us what the hell happened.

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This is who we share the road with.

Because aggro fools like this have to leave the freeway sometime.

https://twitter.com/fka2much336/status/1488225351532748811

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Your periodic reminder that bike lanes aren’t just for able bodied people wrapped in spandex.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. After a A Buffalo, New York paper says safer bike infrastructure is helping attract the younger residents the area needs, a columnist says go ahead and build all the bike paths you want, as long as they don’t inconvenience drivers.

An infuriating story from a North Carolina newspaper says a bike rider was critically injured when he rode into an open car door. No, he was doored by a barely mentioned careless driver who threw open the damn car door without checking to see if anyone was there.

No bias here, either. After a British bike rider posts video of a Range Rover driver buzzing a little girl riding her bike as evidence of why people on bicycles should take the lane, the Daily Mail calls him a cycling zealot and drivers complain she wasn’t wearing a helmet. As if a little bit of plastic would protect her from a three and a half ton vehicle.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

There’s not a pit deep enough for the armed robber who held up a pair of elderly women at gunpoint as they were having lunch in Palo Alto, before fleeing on a cruiser bike. Thanks to Robert Leone for the tip.

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Local

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run driver who left a 13-year old Long Beach boy bleeding in the street after slamming into his bicycle.

The LA Times offers a positive spin on America’s deadly streets, saying there may be a national crisis, but we can fix them.

BikinginLA sponsor Cohen Law Partners writes that if you’re in a collision in California, there’s a one in six chance that the driver who hit you won’t have liability insurance.

The rich get richer, as bike friendly Long Beach intends to complete 15 bikeway projects totaling 33 miles within the next three years, as part of an effort to finish 300 miles of bike lanes by 2040, as well as a promise to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.

 

State

A pair of Santa Barbara brothers have been honored for their short documentary exploring gender, equality and two-wheeled empowerment among Kenyon schoolgirls; Jacob Seigel Brielle and Isaac Seigel-Boettner won the same award for their first film in 2010.

They get it. Berkeley’s Berkeleyside website says the city’s bike plan needs to treat people on bicycles better, noting that bike boulevards should have the same safe and convenient street crossings that drivers get.

San Francisco bike riders swarmed the city’s Bike Kitchen hoping for deep discounts as the co-op tried to solve the problem of having too many bicycles, which kept coming in even as the shop was closed because of the pandemic.

San Francisco Streetsblog calls on Caltrans to build “incomplete streets” by banning cars from off-road bicycle highways, physically separated lanes, bridges, and pedestrian paths and plazas.

 

National

Fast Company calls for building bridges for people instead of cars.

The Atlantic suggests scaling traffic fines along with income, so wealthy people pay more for breaking traffic laws than people who can less afford the fines.

A writer for Electrek calls the new $1,200 Aventon Soltera the most beautiful low-cost ebike he’s tested, while Cycling Tips says the $7,000 Urban Arrow e-cargo bike is a pickup on two wheels.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Maui driver is being held on half a million dollars bail for the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed a 73-year old man riding a bicycle, just a week after he plead guilty to DUI in another case. Which is exactly when his keys should have been taken away, and car impounded.

Sad news from Portland, where Bud Clark, the bike-riding mayor who set the city on its bike-friendly course, passed away Tuesday at 90 years old.

Interbike could unexpectedly rise from the ashes, as its parent company explores reviving the Las Vegas bicycle trade show.

A New York program is helping essential workers buy ebikes to get to work, offering microloans between $500 to $1,500 with no minimum credit score required.

New York Streetsblog wonders what happened to two promised rule changes that would allow bike riders to roll through red lights after stopping in some limited circumstances.

 

International

The petition backed by US bike mechanics calling for an end to built-to-fail bicycles is gaining traction in Vancouver, as well.

The NFL is paying a Canadian university to look into whether substances found in cannabis can prevent and treat concussions. It can definitely prevent concussions if people get too stoned to get off the couch.

London’s Evening Standard looks at their picks for the best bike locks.

An aide to London’s mayor argues that the risks to people walking or riding bikes should be considered before any road safety programs get the axe, saying bike riders get injured in the city every day.

An Irish paper warns that Dublin bike riders and drivers are on a collision course as commuters start heading back to work next week, after record numbers of people took to their bikes during the pandemic.

A Vietnamese website recommends a bike tour to see Hanoi from a different perspective.

 

Competitive Cycling

Two-time Grand Tour winner Egan Bernal faces a second operation on his spine, as he remains in intensive care after nearly losing his life crashing into a poorly parked bus while training in Colombia.

The news about Dutch cyclist Amy Pieters isn’t good, as she remains in stable condition in a deep coma more than a month after she was critically injured in a training crash just before Christmas.

Clean Technica urges the Tour Down Under to ditch its sponsorship by Santos, saying a fossil fuel company shouldn’t sponsor a bike race. Although these days, pro cycling can use every penny they can get.

Pro cycling’s Riders Union warns about dangerous conditions at the Saudi Tour, including hidden hazards in a gravel section and rule-breaking roadside barriers near the finish.

Ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is taking another swing at founding a cycling team, after the collapse of the Floyd’s of Leadville founder’s previous effort in 2019; the team will ride new Canadian brand Squad Bicycles.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you bust your teenage friend out of the joint by hauling him off in a kid’s trailer behind your bike. Your bike glove could tell you where to go.

And who doesn’t need a bike light with a built-in Bluetooth speaker so you can annoy everyone around you with your taste in music?

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Update — Bike rider killed in collision with Azusa motorcycle cop; 9th SoCal bike death this month

February 1, 2022 / / Comments Off on Update — Bike rider killed in collision with Azusa motorcycle cop; 9th SoCal bike death this month

KCBS2/KCAL9 is reporting that a person riding a bicycle died after being struck by an Azusa police officer Monday night.

According to the station, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was stuck by a motorcycle cop at the intersection of Cienega and Sunflower Avenues around 9:10 pm.

Both the victim and the officer were taken to local trauma centers, where the bike rider died of their injuries.

The motorcycle officer is expected to recover.

Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time.

There’s no word on how the collision occurred or who had the right-of-way, or if the officer was using lights and siren or responding to a call at the time of the crash.

Hopefully, we’ll learn more later.

This is at least the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Update: Three days later, the victim has still only been publicly identified as a man. No further details about the crash have been provided.

Update 2: The victim has been identified as 67-year old Xueqi Li, no city of residence given.

Li was reportedly crossing Cienega Ave at Asherton Ave when he was struck by the off-duty officer, who was traveling east on Cienega on his way home. 

The officer remains hospitalized in stable condition. 

The collision remains under investigation by the CHP. Anyone with information is urged to call the Southern Division Investigative Services Unit at 323/644-9550.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Xueqi Li and his loved ones.

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Reverse hit-and-run — driver found, victim missing; and cyclist buzzed and told to “get a car, bitch!”

August 31, 2016 / / One comment

Usually police look for the driver following a hit-and-run.

This time, they’re looking for a victim.

Azusa police acted on a tip to find a driver who admitted to hitting a bike rider, even though his story seems to have bigger holes than the one in his windshield.

Damaged-car-2

A press release from the Azusa Police Department says the driver doesn’t even know when he hit the cyclist, telling the police it happened at an unknown time and location, sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning.

The driver reportedly said the victim’s friends laughed about it, and that he drove off after talking with the rider he hit, who also left the scene. Which seems improbable, given the major damage to his windshield, suggesting a significant impact.

Never mind that someone would have to be pretty wasted to crash into someone and not even know when it happened, let alone where.

Police don’t know if a crime actually occurred, but are asking anyone with information to call the Azusa Police Department at 626/812-3200.

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This is who we share the roads with.

Bike commuter weshigh was the victim of not one, but two dangerous passes from the same driver — the last one just a foot away, in clear violation of California’s three foot passing law.

And adding insult to injury, the driver yelled at him to “get a car, bitch!” when he caught up to him at a red light.

A better solution would be if the driver wasn’t allowed to use one anymore.

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Congratulations to the LACBC’s Tamika Butler on her well-deserved award from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals for 2016 Professional of the Year – Nonprofit Sector.

Streeetsblog quotes Alta Planning’s Jessica Roberts, chair of the APBP’s awards committee, explaining why she was chosen.

“Los Angeles and the entire region are really important right now, not just to the many people that live there but as a national example,” Roberts explained. “What is in the city’s Mobility Plan demonstrates where our nation needs to go, where active transportation is not an after-thought, but a core strategy…LACBC and Tamika are part of writing that important story.”

Then there’s this from another committee member.

“Tamika has challenged the pedestrian and bicycle professional community to grapple with the ways that privilege and structural inequality are embedded in our transportation system and our profession,” wrote Sarah Fine, a member of the APBP awards committee and a planner with the City of Oakland. “We’re all better for it.”

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Caught on video: Cycling Weekly offers a bike cam perspective of the Vuelta’s crash-filled stage 10.

Trailing by nearly three minutes, Alberto Contador says his chances of winning the Vuelta are close to nil, although third place Chris Froome thinks he still has a shot.

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Local

The LACBC talks with 11-year old bike advocate Matlock Grossman, who impressed everyone with his insightful comments about the Rowena road diet.

The Hollywood Reporter offers a detailed look at the terrifying attack on a Beverly Hills surgeon, which started when three people in Venice claimed he damaged a bicycle and demanded $150 on the spot.

KPCC reports on the launch of West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals bikeshare, with UCLA up on deck.

Pasadena Star-News columnist Larry Wilson gets it, saying despite the fears of merchants — one in particular — over lost parking, it’s time to give bikes a chance. On the other hand, Susan Shelley of the Daily News apparently doesn’t, insisting that free parking and avoiding poetry readings is fundamental right.

CiclaValley continues his tale of a recent Napa wine tasting bike tour.

 

State

Only a few months after confiscating the bikes of off-road riders for trespassing on the base, the Marines’ MCAS Miramar, the former home of Top Gun — yes, that Top Gun —  may open a trail to cyclists.

Five members of Ventura’s Channel Islands Bike Club finish a 3,400 mile ride across the US.

Apparently, it’s not just Coronado. San Jose residents complain about the sharrows “defacing” their neighborhood, describing them as blight and graffiti. On the other hand, it’s nice to know they don’t like sharrows, either.

San Francisco breaks ground on the city’s first protected intersection to reduce conflicts between people driving, walking and biking.

 

National

The federal case against Lance Armstrong reaches a critical phase as both sides request a summary judgment.

The Federal Highway Administration addresses several common misperceptions about bicycle and pedestrian funding.

That’s more like it. An Oregon man gets six years and loses his driver’s license for life for killing a teenage bike rider while visibly drunk. Any conviction for killing another human being while driving should result in the automatic loss of license. Period.

The Detroit News writes about fallen cyclist Karen McKeachie, saying the champion triathlete died doing what she loved. Seriously, if anyone says that about me, I’ll come back and haunt them and their descendants for all eternity.

A Pennsylvania man says he shouldn’t have been driving after using heroin, cocaine and marijuana before getting behind the wheel; unfortunately, it came a little too late for the bicyclist he killed.

Buried in the 3,721 page records of Hillary Clinton’s schedules at the State Department is news that she dedicated a basement shower for employees who wanted to bike or run to work.

 

International

A Vancouver cyclist says a new bike lane is completely terrifying, dumping riders into a shared lane with right-turning drivers.

That super-rich Canadian senator deleted her Twitter account after comparing Toronto’s bike lanes to a third-world country.

A writer for the Montreal Gazette says ghost bikes contradict the city’s myth of shared roads.

Caught on video too: Celebrity is clearly no protection from road raging drivers, as a BBC presenter suffers the wrath of a driver who assaults him and threatens to knock him out for the crime of riding his bike outside the door zone.

A South African mountain biker could face murder charges for fatally stabbing two men he says were trying to steal his bike.

Aussie cyclists call for repealing the country’s mandatory bike helmet law, while physicians warn the rate of head injuries could go up. Of course, the only way to find out is repeal, or at least suspend, the law and study the outcome.

Turns out the Aussie truck driver we mentioned yesterday who buzzed a cyclist, then got out of his truck to repeatedly threaten him is a member of a neo-Nazi group. Which doesn’t seem that surprising in retrospect.

A former soccer player and cancer survivor is planning a 750 mile ride across Japan to encourage people suffering from the disease.

A Beijing blog list 16 things that need banning more than the just banned e-scooters, including cyclists who ignore road regulations, and elderly riders who kick their legs over their bikes without looking first to see if other riders are passing.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to celebrate your victory, wait until you actually do. If you’re already on probation and riding a stolen bike at 3:30 am, don’t attract attention by nearly getting run over trying to cross the street.

And if you can’t sleep, you may be overtraining. But at least you should be happy.

 

Category: Bike Cam Video, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links, Road Rage / Tags: , , , , , , ,
 
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