Second Video Shows Much More of Cop Bike Bodyslam Arrest

The lawyer defending a rookie ex-cop accused of assaulting a cyclist and falsifying a police report told jurors yesterday that the infamous videotape of the incident "doesn't give you a 360 degree view of what occurred, it just shows you a small snippet. He wasn't injured at all, he got back up, never went to the hospital, refused medical attention, attempted to get away. Often police work does not look pretty but he was just enforcing the law." But later, prosecutors showed the jury a second, never-before-seen video. Taken by a man riding behind Christoper Long, it gives a fuller view of what happened immediately before and after Officer Patrick Pogan violently knocked Long to the curb:

Pogan's lawyer is arguing that Long was disrupting traffic and creating a dangerous situation as he participated in the 2008 Critical Mass ride. According to the defense, Long was riding erratically and tried ram Pogan, but this second video shows Long riding legally through the intersection because traffic was stopped at the light. Before Pogan knocks him off his bike, he raises both arms in the air and cheers. The video seems to undermine the defense argument that Long was trying to hit Pogan or behaving differently from other cyclists; in fact, it shows him swerving away from Pogan.

After getting knocked down, the video shows an unhinged Long attempting to run away from Pogan, who seems completely inept when it comes to arresting someone. It took several cops to subdue Long, during which time he yelled, "Assault me!" In testimony today, Long explained, "By exhorting them to assault me, I wanted the situation to go all the way. I was just really, really hyped up and very excited and it seemed like the next thing that was going to happen was that I was going to get punched out. And I didn't want to wait for that to happen." For good measure, he also told Pogan he had herpes.

During cross-examination, Long admitted he was discharged after four years in the Army after testing positive for marijuana. Pogan's lawyer sought to discredit Long, asking, "Right now, how often do you get stoned?" Long replied, "Nick-bag-a-day... That would be a five dollar bag—that's why they call it a nick bag." Well, now it's quite clear that these deceptive videos have only confused things: If Christopher Long smokes grass, the jury must give Pogan a pass!

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on April 20, 2010 3:50 PM

Comments [rss]

sleeplessknight

HHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kazubes

Good to see the more of the video than what originally was put out, now I can see the CM cyclist for the complete asshole he is...sadly the city will probably settle to save money wasted on going to trial.

blink

You're an asshole- does that give your mommy the right to knock you down?

resa

As well they should. Just because someone is an asshole doesn't give the cops the right to arrest them or knock them off of their bike. If it did, the cops would've kicked the shit out of you by now.

jt10000

And just because someone is an asshole doesn't make it OK to perjure oneself about it, or falsify a police report.

inoyourider

Fuck these pigs.

Send 'em to hard time and turn a blind eye when the other prisoners have their fun.

Whammo

Your eyes are deceiving you, we will tell you what you see. And it works too, all too often. Straight out of the Rodney King incident playbook. We didn't know they were murdering Jews in the concentration camps. People think they can see what they want to see, truth is relative.

CR

Um... Ok... sure...

Snoopy

Also the way I heard it from cops on the beat is that Pogan was a rookie cop with orders from upstairs to make arrests.

Albeit, I saw the guy briefly but he has that thug look about him even dressed in a suit.

Snoopy

Here's a little something I heard from a very reliable source. There is yet another video that will be released showing the action from a different view point. It might be released tomorrow.

longacre

In this new video you see at least 5 other people filming.

blink

The pig f*ck will walk. Pig f*cks always walk- it's 2010 in the u s of a and we're on obama time, which is time for our black president to murder more people of color.

CR

Um... Ok... sure...

archer1

Pogan was a BAD cop! He should never been, let on the force! When I had an accident with my bicycle, and was unconscious for 45 minutes it was the cops who took care of me until the EMTs got there. They made sure that I was ok, and that my possessions were safe also, so give them a break. They have a tough job to do and get very little credit for it. But I agree, get rid of the Pogans, they stink up the rest!

adeez

Come on, you must be new to the program.

There is no black & white in commentland. Either all cops are great or they're all pigs. Bikers vs. drivers, breeders vs. non-breeders. There is no nuance. Simple people need simple generalizations to make sense of a complex world.

CR

"He wasn't injured at all, he got back up, never went to the hospital, refused medical attention, attempted to get away."

The lawyer is wrong about that first part - that he wasn't injured. Long's mistake was for taking off though, especially with the video evidence being so damning (although he likely had no idea what got caught on film) - and the natural defense to this is "of course I got up? I got shoved off my bike and assault - hey, I was pissed and you would be too." And refuse medical attention? That's amateur-hour right there is what that is. His ride in cuffs should have been in the back of an ambulance, not a squad-car. You would think every Critical Masshole in the world would know by now that there's nothing wrong with being arrested, certainly not after writhering in pain on the ground for 10 minutes after being shoved off your bike. Pogan is lucky he didn't shove Long's head into that street sign and killed him, because we'd have a very different case here. His lawyer in that case would probably use the defense of "he wasn't wearing a helmet.". Actually, I'm surprised that hasn't come out in this case.

Long, in general, might want to reconsider being so jazzed-up while riding his bike, as would most Critical Massholes. I ride a bike here everyday - yes, it's exciting and exhilarating, but I try and not act like a 9-year-old girl who just got her first pony...