Brentwood doctor pleads not guilty to injuring cyclists

A Brentwood physician who allegedly injured two cyclists last summer by slamming on his car brakes in front of them on Mandeville Canyon Road pleaded not guilty today. Prosecutor Mary Stone alleges that Christopher Thomas Thompson hit his brakes after a confrontation with cyclists who were riding down the narrow road.

The resulting impact flung one cyclist through the car’s rear window and the other to the pavement. Thompson, 59, allegedly told police during the July 4 incident that he stopped his red Infinity sedan in front of the cyclists to “teach them a lesson.” The physician complained that cyclists frequently traveled the residential street in Brentwood and that he was “tired of them,” Los Angeles police Officer Robert Rodriguez testified during a preliminary hearing last month.

Thompson is charged with one felony count of reckless driving causing injury and two felony counts of battery with serious injury, two counts of causing “great bodily injury” to the cyclists while attempting to commit a felony and one count of mayhem for other severe injuries to one of the cyclists. He also faces one count of misdemeanor reckless driving causing injury in an incident with another cyclist on the same road in March.

Thompson and his attorney are expected to move to dismiss the case next month; a trial has been set for March 6.

-- Joanna Lin

Photo: Special to the Times

Comments

[critposer]

Yeah, I can see the doctor's point. When someone's doing something annoying, or something you perceive as illegal, or even just rude, it's up to you to show them who is boss. Cyclists wearing clothes that are too bright and don't meet your standards? Hook 'em with your BMW and put 'em in the hospital. Kids too noisy playing on your street? Take a baseball bat to them and teach them some manners. Neighbor's dog barking again? Poison it, that'll give you some peace. Motorcyclists getting through rush-hour traffic too easily by lane splitting? Crack your door open and watch 'em go flying. Yes, it's up to us to put these people in their place, so that we can build a better society.

[Cyclist]

May the aweful doctor rot in hell for his crimes!

[Robert G]

This is very saddening that someone would use their vehicle to injure others regardless of the situation.

I am a motorist, motorcyclist, and a cyclist. Having said that, As a motorist I drive defensively, keep a watchful eye out for both motorcycles and bicycles. I give cyclist a wide berth when passing them. If someone drives or rides in an unsafe manner, I will just back off and let them go. I won't stress over it and get involved to escalate the matter.

As cyclist, I always ride on the right and only take up the lane if it is safer to do so rather than have a motorist clip me or squeeze my off the road.

It would be nice if all drivers and cyclist be a bit more courteous to one another so incidents like this don't happen.

Common sense tells me if I lived on that street and know that it is frequented by cyclists, I would leave a bit earlier to avoid being delayed.

[Tikitrom]

That Disney cartoon when Goofey turns into a maniac as soon as he gets behind the wheel of a car comes to mind here. Use a car as a weapon...go to jail. Four felonies wtg doc. The biking community is really coming together on this one. Share the road.

[RC]

Sean (Posted by: Sean | January 15, 2009 at 01:03 PM )
gets the prize for the biggest idiot post here! Too funny !

[Steven]

The bikers were tailgating. They deserve whatever injury they incurred. It is completely their own fault. HA HA

[Patrick]

Mr. Sullivan: an embarrassment to all Irishmen. Cease your slug-like existence, hoist your load from your four-wheeled transport and give two wheels a try. The increased circulation might clear-up your thought process, and the experience might engender some concern for your more active fellow citizens.

[AB]

To Debi : ( Posted by: Debi | January 15, 2009 at 01:58 PM)
Waht, are you stupid or something? Did you not read that the doctor wanted
to "teach these guys a lesson?"

[Sean K]

People siding with the attacker in this instance are absolute morons. Clearly a bunch of privileged scumbags without the critical thinking ability or empathy of a relatively intelligent dog or cat. PLEASE don't let such brainless malcontents on the jury.

[tom]

if this happened anywhere besides los angeles, this guy would be in jail for a long, long time. though he pleaded not guilty, this disgrace of a doctor has openly professed his guilt, and the man he hit wasn't just some inexperienced cyclist, he was a trainer and former champion. AND despite all that, it is still completely wrong in every way. i'm so glad i don't live in that city anymore, where living with a false sense of entitlement and total lack of morals is so encouraged. hopefully he learns how to deal with people outside of his isolated little world - in a jail cell.

[cbadcyclist]

I ride a bicycle often. I also drive a car more often. I see idiots on bicycles and in cars behaving badly. It does not give me the right to brake check them and cause them the crash. I believe that would be assault with a deadly weapon.

When you're being held up by a bicycle on a narrow road, remember it could just as easily be a lousy car driver going that slow as well. At least a cyclist is not using up gasoline that car drivers need to use their cars. Give cyclists a break. They're saving gas for you to drive with,

[Calvin Stablehouse]

I've followed this case with interest as I was visiting LA at the time, having ridden my bike down from San Francisco on a charity ride.

Just a couple of points:

1. The road is for BOTH cyclists and motorists. Rules, regulations and courtesies have to be obeyed by ALL road users
2. Steep downhill sections present challenges for cyclists. In a lot of cases they need a complete lane to make a corner and can usually do it faster than a car (most motorists brake in the corner whereas they should brake before and then accelerate through the bend)
3. It is a fact that a car can brake and decelerate a lot quicker than a bicycle can. Any responsible cyclist should know this and maintain a safe distance from a car, especially on downhills.

All the above notwithstanding, from what I have read the two injured cyclists may not have been behaving perfectly, but in no way were they deserving of the vindictive behavior that they experienced.

[Nico]

I'm shocked at how many of the commentators here say that they are annoyed that bikers are on the roads. Driving a car is a privilege. It does not give you a right to drive as fast as you want. You can choose to pass a cyclists safely. Ask yourselves how long would are you really delayed when you choose to safely pass a cyclist? 5 seconds? 10 seconds? Maybe 15 seconds at the most? Is that really worth something worth being annoyed about. Being "annoyed" by bicyclists is a choice you make. You could also make the choice to go on with your life (perhaps with a smile on your face) and spend your energy on something more productive than complaining about asinine things.

[David]

As both a recreational cyclist and an everyday motorist, I find it absolutely reprehensible that a frustrated motorist would intentionally inflict harm on another commuter, especially by using his car as a deadly weapon. Anyone who sees it any other way has never been on a bicycle in this city. Try it. It will make you a safer driver, as we all should be.

[ap]

bikers are not very sympathetic victims. i've seen 2 bikers in my life actually obey traffic laws...that is, other than the one that allows them on the road.

red light...no problem, ill just cross as soon as cross traffic is gone
stop sign....what stop sign?
no room to pass cars....that is what a sidewalk is for

doctor shouldn't have tried to hurt them. but bikers tend to be jackasses...especially in west LA.

[Shelly]

Its road rage, plain and simple, ained at the cyclists. He did it on purpose, even admits it! He used his car as a weapon, knowing full well he'd definitely hurt these cyclists. If there are cyclists around, drive carefully, drive around them, use your signals, but to use your car as a weapon is unexcusable. He needs to be punished. But good.

[SF]

The cyclists are at fault. They rode their bikes into a stopped car. Dummies. Don't they teach people in driver's education not to tailgate? What if he had a good reason to slam on his brakes? What if an animal or child ran out in front of him? Don't blame the doctor for these idiots riding into his car.

[Killroy]

I’m surprised by the comments that suggest that the cyclists deserve this. I’m suprised that people that think this way know how to read.

This so-called doctor, should have his car confiscated as evidence and be forced to try riding the streets of LA on a bicycle.

[Kevin Salk]

That "doctor" should have his license revoked. Not his drivers license but his medical license. What a horrible person!

[Renee Cain]

Sean;
The road IS for bikes, cars, pedestrians, and any other vehicle deemed legal.
YOU should not have a drivers license, since you do not know the rules of the road.

[David U]

It is not your road, it was paid for by the taxpayer. It is not your canyon, you may own a piece of property there, but you do not own the canyon.
If a few seconds are so important to you then leave the house earlier.
It is obvious Mr. Thomson has an anger problem which can be cured by a stay in the greybar hotel. People like Mr. Sullivan seem to think they are the only ones with rights on the street. Well Mr. Sullivan, with your attitude, someday you might meet someone who disagrees with you and has the ability to make you think otherwise. You said the cyclists were riding too fast. Oh, were you there? Did you witness the incident? Riding to fast, then why was Thomson upset with them being in his way? Oh, I see, he was going to teach them to slow down.
Of course he has the right to plead not guilty, that is what we have juries for.
But a judge might not find him deserving of a light sentence if he is convicted. I suspect his lawyer told him how to plead, he can help that lawyer buy a new boat, or Porsch.

[thismakesmesick]

Why do these self entitled jerks seem to think that cyclists go out there to disrupt and ruin their lives? I am a cyclist and I do it because it is my hobby and a great form of exercise. We don't take up the road on purpose, sometimes there's parked cars, glass, ruts, or other kinds of debris on the right side of the road. So what if we wear loud colored, tight, spandex clothes? At least you can see us! To each their own, some of us prefer to wear tight cycling shorts, some of us prefer to wear something looser. It is all about comfort. Why do some of you have issues with that?? We don't all have to be like Lance Armstrong to enjoy our bikes and ride.

We don't go out there to piss you off and prove a point. It is a common courtesy to share the road.

Some of you need a serious attitude adjustment.

[Bill]

You guys act like this is something new. For years, people in this country would assert their proprietary right to an area using similar methods. When a group of people they didn't want around started becoming too comfortable, they too would "teach them a lesson" like the good doctor and beat them half to death (or all the way there to be put on display) so the others would know to get out. Based on the support from these comments, I'm sure we could round up plenty of participants for some good old CYCLIST LYNCHINGS!

[Christian]

I'd like to just point out ONE thing to the people who seem to believe that the bicyclists were travelling at an illegal speed because the bicyclist "went through" the doctor's rear window. The doctor was behind the bicyclists when this incident began. In order for him to pass them and then slam on his brakes (something that seems to have occurred as one relatively compact event), he would have to exceed whatever speed they were at. Ergo, if they were speeding, the doctor's rage was due to the fact that he wanted to speed faster--the cyclists were in no way preventing him from using the road at its posted speed limit. If they were at the speed limit, the doctor had to violate the speed limit to pass them. And if they were below the speed limit, then all of this talk about them riding at an illegal speed is poppycock!

I don't know the speed limit on this particular stretch of road--let's assume it is 25 mph (also not a terribly unrealistic or unsafe speed for a bicycle). At 25 mph, a bicyclist colliding with a stationary object would be traveling at 36 feet per second. That makes for a pretty violent collision.

[Gary Kavanagh]

To address the numerous comments suggesting they should not be tail gating, anyone who has followed this case knows the account is that he cut them off and slammed the brakes. If someone passes you on the freeway then moves back into your lane with no space, you are not tail gating you are cut off, and if someone slammed their brakes in such an instance there is no time to react, only crash. That is what happened here.