STEAMING CYCLISTS SUE 'BIKE THIEF' COPS
By CARL CAMPANILE
October 21, 2004 -- Cyclists yesterday filed a $1 million suit accusing
cops of illegally confiscating their bikes by using a power saw to cut
locks securing the vehicles to street poles.
The five bikers who filed the suit in Manhattan federal court are members
of the Critical Mass bike ride.
They complained that the police did not arrest them and therefore had no
cause to take their bikes following a Sept. 24 ride.
The bikers said they dismounted and locked up their bikes to lampposts and
other city property after officers on scooters blocked traffic at the
corner of Fifth Avenue and 36th Street.
Later they discovered their bikes had been confiscated by police, who
claimed they'd been "abandoned," according to the suit.
Police seized 40 bikes during the mostly peaceful ride last month, when
there were a handful of arrests.
But during the Republican National Convention in August, more than 200
cyclists were busted for blocking traffic.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the cyclists had held monthly rides without
wholesale violations but that changed when the convention approached and
"the rides were hijacked by others bent on disrupting traffic and causing
real public safety hazards."
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/32363.htm
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