“All agreed that the car was going very fast in reverse and one person said he had heard loud words exchanged.”
We reported this weekend on an incident in which Wayne Conrad Thompson was arrested after he collided, in his car, with a man on a bike.
Thompson was charged with first-degree assault, a felony, a charge that is used when someone is suspected of having intentionally harmed another person with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
The Oregonian has obtained a court document and is now reporting more details on the incident. It occurred in a parking lot, they report, near NE 122nd and Glisan. Witnesses apparently heard shouting and then saw Thompson back his car “as fast as it possibly could go” into 52 year old Portland resident Michael Luther, who was riding a bicycle at the time.
The Oregonian’s sources say that intoxicants are not suspected to have played a part in the incident, but that avenue is being explored; they also say that Thompson looked “agitated” and was looking over his shoulder while backing up.
A commenter on our story who was at the scene but did not witness the crash reports that Thompson’s SUV had
“…gone over one island clear across to the next island and stopped. At least one back tire was flat so that would have made it difficult to flee. Also, there were several people that witnessed the situation including the waitress who got the license number just in case. All agreed that the car was going very fast in reverse and one person said he had heard loud words exchanged. The cyclist had been knocked out of his shoes and his helmet was a few feet from his head.”
According to the Oregonian story, Luther has been upgraded from fair condition at Legacy Emanuel. His sister has contacted us asking to be put in touch with any witnesses.
The case is currently being investigated by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office. We’ll have more once they are able to release details of their investigation.
Update: KGW reports that Thompson’s case is headed to a grand jury, and that the case is being handled by homicide detectives rather than the traffic division.
Thanks for reading.
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Hope Michael gets better soon. I read about this earlier on Oregonlive and the comments were pretty terrifying, on top of already scary situation.
I also hope that Micheal gets better quickly. My heart goes out to him and his family.
I wouldn’t read the Oregonlive comments if you have a weak stomach. I better understand who their (The Oregonian)
clientele is. It is so refreshing to have KBOO, DemocracyNow.org, and of coarse bikeportland.org to go to for news and to not have to rely on our local paper.
Jonathan and Elly, you have like 8 new articles today. Busy Busy.
Oh no, no. This happened on private property? Oh yikes… Man, man oh man. That sounds like Jody’s, but I digress. Duder’s gonna get blood-work for Meth too it looks like. Yay! Pretty new thing being able to mandate that.
This happening on private property just made the victim’s life that much worse here. This is going to be a financial disaster for them.
Do we need to get Helping Hands up again, or are these folks kool?
I’m not sure the people who post on Oregonlive are necessarily representative of Oregonian readers as a whole. I sure hope not.
I try hard to remember that people are frustrated and disempowered, working hard but going broke. Add in a poor education (especially in the interpretation of text and social artifacts) and a huge, ubiquitous propaganda machine and you get these enraged commenters who desperately need someone, anyone to lash out against.
Begin rant. I feel like NE 122nd between Sandy and Powell (I know that’s a stretch) is a really tense route when cycling. Even when driving that street I feel very uneasy. But on the bike in that neighborhood I feel like a second-rate citizen. People think it’s normal to drive very close, skim, cut off, make faces and gestures at, honk, laugh, and just plain intimidate me. Maybe it’s because I’m, oh, I dunno, in the bicycle lane obeying traffic laws and going unobtrusively fast. I’d like to say it’s because I’m intimidatingly hott. Anyway, seems like I’d be the last person to put up with this aggression. But I do. Every. time. I. go. out. there.
I don’t have a big steel shield around me, so I often have considered packing heat (or at least mace). Then, if someone decided to use their vehicle as a weapon against me (oh, as opposed to an object of intimidation as they most often “just” do), I could fight back in defence in my final moments before waking intubated at Emanuel. This sounds like hatred- and violence-mongering, but really, when you are aggressed time and time again these are the types of things you think. (I said “think,” not “do.”) A friend on a long bike tour happens to be packing a .32 pistol, and says he would brandish it in the worst case scenario, but wishes it was acceptable and safe to brandish it more often so that cyclists wouldn’t have the public image of “styrofoam neon knee-sock dorks.”
We are not dorks. We are tax-paying children, parents, brothers, sisters, heroes and villains. It should be growing more and more obvious that people who cling to their soon-to-be clunkers as status symbols and false idols are the new dorks. (Maybe THAT’s why some drivers are so aggressive — get on a bike already!!) Bicycles are sexy, they are swell, they are healthy, efficient and affordable, they can be fast, they can be fancy, and their operators are likely every right as fierce as car operators. In most cases, they are the same people.
Again, yeah I may not be wrapped in the luxury of a $200/month, gas-guzzling, noxious-fume-emitting steel-reinforced death-trap with ABS, SIR, SAB, DVD, and JBL – BUT- that doesn’t mean I’m not rad and that if you mess with me my mom won’t be hunting you down and hanging your little balls from her RVM. Pass it on.
My best wishes to the cyclist in this situation through his complete recovery.
()__()
(=’.’=)
(“) (“)
Caroline, you might think about Open Carry, not sure what the laws are regarding this in Oregon, but you shouldn’t need a concealed weapons permit for Open Carry and it gives the motorists an opportunity to see that you are armed beforehand.
Caroline/BURR:
Sadly, Loaded Open Carry (LOC) is illegal in Portland without a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) (Portland Code 14A.60.010). The irony is, a concealed handgun license allows open carry in Oregon for cities that have otherwise banned LOC.
A CHL is relatively easy to acquire, however. It costs $65 and takes about a month or so for the process to complete, depending on which county you live in, and is good for 4 years. There are some qualifications – find out more at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. CHL’s are generally issued by the sheriff of the county you reside in.
Riding around with a gun on your hip will definitely get you some looks, and maybe even some hassles by some police who don’t know the law in regards to Open Carry. So far, however, my experiences have been all positive.
Despite what many may think it’s generally seen as a deterrent to the kind of violent escalations that happened last week. Just having it there, on your hip in plain view, means that whatever discussions take place should remain somewhat civil. When things start going bad, just walk away.
A common catchphrase used by the Open Carry Movement is “An armed society is a polite society”.
Ride safe,
Dave
The interesting part is that the accident you refer to occurred in the middle of a large parking lot — not on NE 122nd as the initial reports implied. The confrontation between the two MAY have started on the street, but there’s no question that the car ran the bicyclists down in the parking lot.
I drove by there just minutes after it happened and wondered why all the emergency vehicles and crime tape were in the middle of the parking lot.
Open Carry is legal in the state, but… nebulous at best. In most urban areas it’s banned by local ordinances.
http://opencarry.org/or.html
BURR – Open carry is strictly verboten here. Can’t even have a firearm and ammo for it in the same place. The only way to carry firearm and ammo in public here is to obtain a CCP.
Hey Caroline, in the interest of male/female relations, I wanted to share. Now you’re a bad example ’cause you seem nonplussed, but your experience is a common one.
I’m a very tall, very nasty looking fellow. I’m very poor, very pissed, and about as anti-social as they come.
I endure the same things on the road everybody else does. I get the laughs, the mocking, the swipes, and the like. Me. Big scary guy.
Just wanted to chime in ’cause it’s my perception that a lot of women feel singled out, and that harassment of that sort only happens to them ’cause their girls. It happens to us all, trust me. Again, directed at nobody, just sayin’.
Isn’t it easier though to suck it up, rather than live under a bunch of oppressive laws?
Off topic. Dang it BURR – I blame you. Or not. 🙂
It’s pretty sad that we even consider needing to pack heat to ride our bikes on city streets. I can’t help but wonder of an unseen part of this incident is the ‘bike v car’ rage promulgated by certain talk radio hosts and their acolytes. All the ‘share the road’ and ‘start seeing everyone’ community effort is frequently rendered nil by one radio show rant. Yet nobody ever calls Lars et all after such horrible incidents and reminds Lars & Co. that there is blood on their hands.
On a related note,there is ample evidence of the need for safer routes in outer SE, both North/South and East/West. Getting cyclists off such overused and nasty streets such as 122,Division,any street wider than three lanes,should be a priority. If you can’t feel safe,can you be expected to even try to use a bicycle out there?
The battle for the right to use public streets is being held out in the outer fringes of Portland,because the folks who live out there are dependent on cars,as it is so sprawled and distant, with fewer options to live without relying on a car. A bicyclist is (IMHO) seen as a threat to the suburban way of life by many.Suburban man fears you on your bicycle because he sees you as a threat to his lifestyle. Change is painful.
Jay R.:
The only places that currently ban LOC is Portland, Beaverton, Tigard, Oregon City, Salem, Dallas, Bend, and (ironically) Independence.
That sounds like a lot, and it covers the Portland area pretty well, but there are plenty of metro areas this doesn’t cover. Here’s a map of the Portland Metro area no-gun zone.
All of this goes away, however, once you have a CHL – the state law allowing local municipalities the ability to regulate possession of handguns (ORS 166.173) also specifically exempts CHL holders.
$65 for 4 years is worth it for me to avoid the hassle of locking up my gun every time I head into Portland.
Vance – I think I like you. Honestly, the sexist angle hadn’t occurred to me, as naive as that sounds. I just thought “the natives” would be allured/pissed off by my long thin legs and the magic between them. A man could swing the look, too, if he wanted.
But, really, I think most outer Portland and Gresham (I can only speak for the East side) might still view bicycle lanes with ignorance and even a little disdain, as evidenced by the frequent sight of “the natives” still riding their bikes on the sidewalk when there are bike lanes. Do they know something I don’t? Maybe they do! Sometimes I think I should take their example, but when I see the wistful, longing, puzzled looks they give me as I zip by unhampered by curbs and crosswalks, I remember I must set the example: bicyclists belong on the road, too!
Dave – Would I need a permit for an IRBPL (intergalactic ray-of-brotherly-peace-and-love) gun?
I’ve had my CHL for many years, now, so OC isn’t something I’ve much concerned myself with, really.
Most of the metro is covered, however, so OC (without a license) is not really a good idea for someone who primarily rides here.
Even with a license, I’ve never really been fond of open carry. It attracts attention, generally of the negative sort, from police, passers by (mostly fear), and would-be thugs.
Riding with a loaded weapon?: If I remember correctly, a State Senator (or Rep) was SHOT in the leg last year. How? He was working on a friends bike, and when he took the tool pouch off the seat, he dropped it: BANG-the loaded gun went off and he almost lost his leg. Problem was he did not know his friend had stored a loaded weapon in there!
Think lawsuits in bike shops. “Sorry your mechanic got shot, I forgot my gun was in there!”
Way OT: we consider “packing heat” because these drivers see no consequence for their actions.
Countries with fewer traffic accidents are quite often populated by drivers and cyclists that have learned manners and how to share.
Here in the “Gud Ol” USA we reinforce “Me First” so it’s little wonder that we manufacture lots of bullies.
Put a bully in a metal box that provides protection and anonymity and you can guarantee that some will lash out anyone. When there is little chance of consequences (what, will my bike scratch their paint) there is literally nothing to stop them.
Now, if just a few attacked cyclists returned fire on these drivers then they, the drivers, might all have to wonder if next time they might get shot at for their fun running the cyclist off the road.
Tens of thousands of people have CHLs in Oregon, and I’m sure many of those people ride bikes (I do)… some idiot shooting himself has more to do with him being an idiot than it does with the gun.
“Open Carry” requires that it be on your person and visible at all times. If it’s not visible, it’s concealed carry, which requires licenses.
Guns are the solution? No thanks.
As usual I am amazed by how dangerous cycling in Portland is, at least if you believe the BikePortland forums. I commute 15 miles to work regularly out here in the western ‘burbs (Tigard, Beaverton, Hillsboro), and quite honestly there just isn’t that much excitement to be had. It never occurred to me that I needed a CHL to ride my bike.
Carrying a gun was only brought up tongue-in-cheek (as far as I can tell) – as a visual deterrent. My commute is 10 miles through the heart of SE, and I avoid most confrontations and issues.
Besides, even for those who do have a license, where can you really conceal anything in bike shorts. They’re the epitome of “displaying everything.” 😉
Is it possible this is the same guy responsible for the hit and run the night before in the same area?
Also, I don’t think carrying a gun is going to make you any safer? Escalating the potential level of retaliation is only going to make the problem worse for all of us. Have a nice day!
With “Open Carry” can you attach a shot gun to your top tube for deterrence?
Outside Portland?
So, guy on a bike gets hit by a motorist and now the discussion has devolved into ‘how do I get a permit to carry a gun?’
Most of you can’t remember where you put your tire lever to fix a flat–do you really think you have what it takes in a tense situation with an angry motorist to reach for a weapon and use it? You daydream about shooting through the winshield, just like the movies, right? The car flips over and explodes and you ride away on your bike, a total passive agressive dreamer, ‘Revenge’ tattooed on your neck. Come on people, get real.
Elly, some moderation please!
John – when haven’t the comments on this site gone OT or devolved? Relax, enjoy the ride. It’s a public forum!
Yeah, I was just saying (if you read carefully) that those type of action movie scenarios do run through my head occasionally when I encounter aggression on the road. But I made it clear it was a notion, not a reality.
I’m a person with a will to survive, not a doormat. If I had been in the parking lot that day with some means of stopping that driver, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have. If the only recourse a cyclist has are weak traffic law and civil court, or to stay silent and docile, then of course other, more primal thoughts are going to bounce around the skull…
“…shooting through the winshield, just like the movies, right? The car flips over and explodes and you ride away on your bike…”
Yes. This. 😉
I think there should be a public information campaign that really tells the story of the consequences of an intentional hit and run.
Wayne Conrad Thompson can be the poster boy for this example, since his timing is so impeccable.
First, you will be caught.
Then, your bail will be so high, that you probably won’t be able to get out of prison.
As a consequence of being in jail, you will probably lose your job.
You lose your job, you will probably lose your house if you have one.
You lose your job and house, you will probably lose your spouse, if you have one.
The criminal trial will cost you a lot. A good lawyer will probably cost +$20k or more. That is less than bail bond for Wayne.
So even before the trial, Wayne has incurred about $45,000 in debt, will probably lose his job and more.
If you lose the trial, then you go to jail for a while. There is free food and friends, who will most likely rape you. They may give you a snack in return for said rape-age.
And then there is the civil trial. If you are found guilty in the criminal trial, then Wayne, you are truly f***ed.
Good luck Wayne, I bet you are having second thoughts about that rage and throwing your Kia SUV in reverse and intentionally running down a fellow human being.
My editorial take on this thread:
Caroline’s comment is awesome.
The conversation about the pros and cons of carrying guns while riding a bike seems reasonable to me.
The first time my “edit” light went on was when John (23) calls a hypothetical other commenter a passive-aggressive dreamer — not really called for, a bit of a personal attack. But subsequent responses diffused that better than I could have.
The second time is when KWW(26) speculates about a sexually violent acts that could befall someone.
Personally, I really can’t stand it when someone brings up this issue in a light or callous tone. Two short comments containing “joking” references to the same possibility were deleted from the last story. But the comment as a whole is relevant, interesting, and at least not openly mean-spirited or attacking. And would I get to voice my discomfort if KWW didn’t get to speculate about this most uncomfortable issue? Probably not. But does that make it a good idea to leave it up? Some people’s hearts are just going to sink reading this conversation. And for what purpose? Such are the internal debates.
Because of one or two (maybe 3)incidents, people are talking about carrying guns while biking. The irony is that most of the pro bike people are likely pro gun control,also.
Seriously folks, this is perhaps the best place in the country to bike. Taking a few instances and holding it up as the norm is a disservice to both cyclists and drivers.
Carrying a weapon will do wonders for the cycling community. If anything, a driver with an attitude will use the “I thought he was armed” excuse to actually run you over. And who can shoot and ride at the same time?
Personally, I think there is a lot of underlying rage that is unrelated to cycling (as I watch a bike sail through the stopsign on Miss and Shaver).
These incidents serve as touchpoints for anger people are already carrying around (both bikers and drivers). Think about how angry you get at a minor incident and evaluate whether your anger is justifiable proportioned to what happened.
I think the perp in this case was an angry guy and this (whatever it was) pushed him over the edge of self control.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/americas/02toronto.html?hp
“The conversation about the pros and cons of carrying guns while riding a bike seems reasonable to me.” Elly Blue
But here on this thread, related to this incident? How? Why?
How could carrying a gun possibly have helped “…Michael F. Luther, 52…” (that’s the unfortunate victim…I wish him a speedy, full recovery.)as Thompson backed his car at a high speed over Michael on his bike? Are you all seriously thinking he could have pulled it out and shot Thompson through the window glass as the car rushed towards him? That gun stuff in the movies is 98 percent fantasy B.S.
It might be more constructive to think about why Thompson was thought by observers to have seemed “agitated”. And since the incident occurred in a parking lot…if it was a strip club parking lot and the two parties involved had been customers of that strip club…whether the wonderful entertainment opportunities available in the strip club might have contributed to Mr. Thompson’s “agitation” and his decision to knock Michael Luther down.
Getting a CHL and practicing open carry whilst riding is an especially visible statement if one is left-handed.
I knew a guy (in another state) who commuted on a road that was notorious for motorists expressing hostility and threatening behavior towards cyclists. He was perplexed by all the stories because he’d never had a single negative experience in all the years he’d been commuting on that road. One day, his wife passed him in her car on his route home from work and what she told him made it all quite clear. He is left-handed with a CHL and has carried his handgun on his work commute for years. Because of the thinness of his cycling jacket, she could see quite clearly that he was carrying and that it must always be apparent to any motorist passing him. To his mind, that was the only difference between him and every other cyclist he’d ever met who rode that route – and every single one of them complained of regular harassment from motorists.
It’s certainly not a practice that’s palatable (or even recommended) for everyone, but some folks who ride in certain locales may well wish to give the idea some serious thought.
I’ve considered carrying a realistic lightweight fake shotgun strapped to my back……haven’t got around to it yet….
If I was new to this blog, I would think all bike riders in Portland were nuts. Is this really that productive? Fun, maybe. Productive….?
EastPDX #8
“accident”???
Watch your language. Also, cars don’t run people down, people do.
Pack guns in Portland? Clinging onto cars in Toronto?
This is not a James Bond movie. Learn to de-escalate and avoid confrontations. Chances are that the motorist has a lot less to lose and I’d bet on him every time. Live to ride another day and get home safely to your family.
I’m glad to hear that the victim in this case has been upgraded. I wish him a full and speedy recovery.
I love this site….where else would anyone bring up the image of a gun “hidden” in bike shorts…HA! So OT and outrageous…
Not to have too much humor at the expense of the hospitalized victim. Get well soon! Holy smokes.
Is that a pistol in your lycra, or are you glad to see me?!?
Elly, if you wish to edit my post, be my guest, I was just interjecting some black humor at the expense of the soon to be ‘defendant’.
The gun craziness can basically be summed up like this: the sort of people that intentionally run down cyclists would never do it to you if they though there would be any punishment.
There is no reason to believe that they’ll get caught or that any witnesses will side with the cyclist. The behavior of auto drivers resembles forum trolls.
The anonymity and unaccountability encourages people who are normally too polite or timid in front of others to lash out in random acts of violence.
My choices on how to resolve the overall issue go in this order: politeness, education, enforcement and last “armed anarchy”.
1)Politeness: can’t we all just get along? Share the road? Slow down and consider all others as valid road users? If we all stop acting like impatient self-absorbed children cycling and walking in urban area might be safer.
2)Education: With proper training all road users could learn the safe and proper way to use the road and the consequences not doing so.
3)Enforcement: are there really enough cops? Can we put red light cameras and automated speed trap vans everywhere so police can respond to crimes? Do I actually want to live in that police state?
4)“Armed Anarchy”: when all else fails remember that this about more than your right to ride a bike on public streets. It’s about your right to life vs the drivers privilege to drive like a sociopath.
This is a great excerpt from the globe and mail on the incident in Toronto. I think it applies equally to this story.
Rage too is familiar to many of us who drive in the city. I once got into a ridiculous up-yours shouting match with another motorist, behaved like an idiot by out-manoeuvring him up a one-way road – and then slowing down deliberately to make him crazy.
It worked: At the next light, he got out of his car and put a boot through my door. I was so shaken, and simultaneously mortified by my own conduct, that I reported him neither to police nor insurance company, and just paid for the damage myself – and that was in a clash with a peer, a fellow motorist driving a vehicle as big and powerful as my own. We were for the most part in our moving bubbles, seat-belted and air-bagged and roll-barred unto safety.
But a cyclist is never in a bubble like that.
Thus, it is the motorist who has the greater responsibility.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/bryants-story-shocking-and-sobering-but-also-far-too-common/article1272593/
I also wish commenters in this forum would tone it down with the bike versus car rhetoric. I’ve commuted by bike in Portland over 600 miles this year so far and only once felt driver “road rage” toward me. Even then I never felt in danger, she just yelled at me and sped off. I’ve had many times more positive experiences where cars go out of their way to treat me courteously and give ample space.
Is there any evidence that this particular incident had anything to do with the fact that Michael was riding a bike at the time he was hit? Isn’t it possible that an argument in a parking lot at 2am turned violent without it being part of a larger war on bikes?
Drivers only have a privilege to drive if they do not drive like sociopaths. Once the sociopathy commences, they’re supposed to lose their privilege to drive.
Theoretically.
Tens of thousands of people ride every day in this city and do so reasonably safely. Some rides involve a close encounter with another vehicle and a few rare incidents result in tragedy. Unfortunately we as a species just aren’t wired to instinctively understand the math. With a million trips on bicycles(very rough guess) every year, those mistakes and confrontations are somewhat inevitable. Don’t fall into paranoia. Don’t pay too much attention to the headlines.
“Rage too is familiar to many of us who drive in the city. I once got into a ridiculous up-yours shouting match with another motorist, behaved like an idiot by out-manoeuvring him up a one-way road – and then slowing down deliberately to make him crazy.” ME 2
Obviously, you’re not the only one that feels rage on the road and has to learn how to deal with it. Just as with a lot of things, some people have the ability to learn, more easily than others, how to deal with road rage. The drivers test doesn’t seem like it offers a very good way to determine whether an applicant has or is inclined to have a road rage problem.
“Is there any evidence that this particular incident had anything to do with the fact that Michael was riding a bike at the time he was hit? Isn’t it possible that an argument in a parking lot at 2am turned violent without it being part of a larger war on bikes?”
EXACTLY!
There’s an urge to see everyone on a bicycle as a brother or sister. Fact is in most cases a shared form of transport is as meaningful as a common affinity for a kind of toaster.
story I read said 2 p.m.
obviously we don’t know who said what to whom, but if a motorist runs down a guy on a bike, it is per se “part of a larger war on bikes.”
Only if he was targeted because he was on a bike.
Elly, seriously, you’re edit light starts blinking becuase I poked fun at Caroline’s comments?
She started a thread that led to an exchange about open carry laws, concealed weapons, and gunplay in general…against motorists…no editorial blinking lights there?
It’s plain to me that her comments and comments like it are bad for bicycle advocacy. It scares away the uninitiated to cycling. It scares motorists, too. It also just sounds plain crazy, like cuckoo clock crazy. You said her comment was “awesome”. I’m so offended…journalism has a lexicon,and bong water “awesome” doesn’t really tell me anything. It’s like you’re saying that whole thread about guns was awesome.
Weren’t you the one who moderated this story every five minutes when it first broke to make sure it didn’t get too off topic?
I’ve noticed in general that the problems in the comment start to escalate when folks take umbrage at others’ comments. I’d ask you, if you see a comment that you think is problematic, to respond calmly or not at all — feel free to contact me by email if you feel really upset about something. Responding in-kind or derisively generally ends up being worse than the original comment — no matter who “started it.” Thanks.
And it was at a grocery store… not a strip club. Seriously.
Speaking as someone who recently got hit by hurled fruit biking up NW 18th, the first thing I thought about was arming up.
However, I have a hard enough time getting to my phone when I get a text message, let alone trying to get a weapon clear in time for it to be useful.
I’ve instead been pricing helmet cams. It may take some practice to reliably and clearly record license plate numbers, but I’m going to throughly enjoy personally jacking up the insurance rates of the next rager who crosses my path.
The only way you could use a weapon in an event like getting hit by a car, is if the car comes back for seconds, or the driver gets out and attacks you physically. I really doubt that either of those two will happen.
Almost every deliberate hit by a car on a cycle, results in a ‘hit and run’.
I suggest you put away your gun fantasies for this scenario.