Cyclist: Off-Duty Cop Pulled Gun On Me In Road Rage Incident!

Ryan Stepka

The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating an incident involving an allegedly pistol-flashing off-duty cop and a pissed-off cyclist on Bleecker Street Saturday night. Bike rider Ryan Stepka, 36, was pedaling home around 11:30 p.m. when a driver in a Volkswagen with heavily tinted windows almost sideswiped him. Stepka says he banged on the window to alert the driver to his presence, but the car continued to force him to the curb as they approached a stoplight. "That’s when I got off my bike and approached the window to talk to the guy," Stepka tells the Post. And when the window rolled down, shit got real:

The gun was pointed at my face with the guy staring at me in my eyes. He had a look of death in his eyes. He looked me square into my eyes, like, ‘I will shoot you in the face.’ I was in disbelief, my throat dried up. He pointed the gun like a thug in a movie. He didn’t say anything, just pointed the gun and then kept driving. I was shocked, like is this really happening in today’s day and age in New York City?

After sending a crystal clear message, the unidentified driver sped off, but Stepka called 911 and soon came upon the Volkswagen near Barrow Street and West 4th Street, with two NYPD patrol cars on the scene. "I yelled, 'Stop the guy! He pulled a gun on me!"' Stepka tells the Daily News. "They surround the car with their guns drawn, and he rolls down the window and must have shown them his badge because they all lowered their weapons." Both the driver and Stepka were taken into custody, and Stepka's lawyer says, "They started getting physical with him. He got upset, but he certainly didn't break any laws."

For insider analysis, we turn to popular police message board NYPD Rant, where the general consensus is that Stepka got off easy: "So he got off his bike in the middle of the night to confront a motorist at a red light, after he banged on his car window. He's lucky it was a PO in that car and not some savage who'd tune him up nicely." Another thinks Stepka "should have been issued a summons for harassment." And a third offers a possible line of defense for the cop: "I feared that he may have been attempting to carjack me at the redlight, so I pulled my firearm, and then fled."

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

By John Del Signore in News on October 18, 2010 11:05 AM

Comments [rss]

Blurry

Regardless of the details of the rights and wrongs of this incident, I doubt the cyclist would have made up the part about the driver (who later turned out to be a cop)pulling a gun on him.

Corporal

How was this cyclist tapping on the DRIVER side window while approaching a traffic light? I can only think of two situations how you could be positioned like that:

1. you are in a bike lane with a car lane on the right for right-hand turns.

2. you are in the left-turn lane.

It doesn't sound like either was the case. Seems to me like this cyclist was probably riding fast like a douche bag and was in the road where he doesn't belong. Want to a ride a bike? Move to a bike friendly city shit for brains.

Kelles

It was a dark and stormy night....

Staci

I'm glad I wasn't there...if I just almost got sideswiped on a bike, I may have called him an asshole as well as given him the "NY your #1" gesture...such foulness is never heard of on the streets of NY, I know...my poor parents would be burying me now...I didn't know cops could pull guns on people when their nervous...when I grow up I WANNA BE A COP...and have hair like Ryans ;O)

OSN!

Did adult beverages play a role in this confrontation?

Loulou

He's lucky the guy was a cop. Simply straight up he would have at least gotten beaten down if the other guy wasnt a cop. From what I heard from media and blog bs..u dont do what he did (cyclist) if u dont wanna start something physical.

matty

I just decided that this man has the best head of hair I have probably ever seen.

Streetsmartz

Cop on an ego kick. You don't see that everyday.

BigChase

Besides the well known example of a cop convicted for lying in a police report about knocking a cyclist off his bike(which he would have gotten away with were it not for a video of the incident), another well documented example of the general dishonesty of the New York City Police Department, for which the city pays out millions each year to redress damages inflicted on innocent New Yorkers and visitors:

Village Voice: NYPD Beating Coverup

havamal

I would pull a gun on this douchebag too. I mean look at his fucking picture!

Erök

Sounds like another smallest dick battle.

ocm123

JS, The Rant is primarily made of disgruntled, bitter police officers who feel the department wronged them in some way. Many of them hate the way the police department is now run and long for the NYPD to return to pre-Knapp Commission era. In addition, many of the posters have long been retired.

The website should not be used a barometer of how most current officers feel about different issues.

joeburzell

What a puss. Don't start something you cant finish and then cry about it in public.

JenChungsBaby

What do you expect from a bed salesman?

jrrrrz

Back in the day the cops would've beat the shit out of him, so things really have gotten better.

Rocknrope

Was he wearing a helmet?

billyjack44

Look at that shot of him. The intense, dark look. The hair, windblown in such a manner as to perfectly frame his face. WHAT A DOUCHE. I put my money on him tapping on that darkly tinted window (Darwin lurking again), and getting just a badge and a "Fu** Off" flashed at him for his trouble, followed by him being so pissed that he called in a gun report. I only say this because anyone sufficiently narcissistic as to have a photo like that of himself (always ready to submit to the media) would just sh** himself and die of fright if a real weapon were pointed at that gorgeous face. Some people, all it takes is one glance to know that they are massive jerk-o**s. Methinks our boy Ryan is such an individual.

kevd

Over that mane? Please God, never.

JacqueMehoff

no knock on a window needed, that's what the required bicycle bell is for. ding, ding.

kevd

this is the most retarded comment of the day.

do you think people inside cars can hear a bell? come on.

I light tap with the knuckle on the window of body panel is a good approximation of a horn when a car is about to run you off the road. nothing crazy or aggressive, just a little "pardon me, but you're about to kill me. would you mind not running me over?"

and respectfully approaching a driver after the fact to let them know that you were just trying to not get run over - not mess up their car or anything is totally warranted.

I have no idea if this is in anyway what flowing locks did.

But I do it. And 9 out of 10 times the driver responds "oh sorry, didn't see you" and we tell each other to stay safe.