Yesterday, the police arrested a man who was riding his bike and got into an altercation with the occupants of a motor vehicle in Northeast Portland.
According to the PPB, at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning, 34 year-old Glen Glans spit into the passenger window of a van near the intersection of NE 20th and Irving because he “believed the van drove too close to him as he rode his bike.” Glans was riding northbound on 20th and as the van turned left (westbound) onto Irving, the police say that Glans rode past and spit into the van. Then, both the driver and the passenger of the van got out and the three “were involved in an altercation.”
The passenger of the van alleges that Glans struck him with a bike lock and he suffered minor injuries. The police arrested Glans and charged him with Attempted Assault (a Class C Felony) and Harrassment (a misdemeanor).
But Glans told KGW News that the police report got it wrong and that he was just defending himself. Here’s a snip from KGW.com:
“He said he was headed to work when the van swerved at him, which upset him. When he and the van came to a stop at the intersection, he said the van was positioned in such a way that he couldn’t pass it. Glans said he asked the driver what he was doing, and he spit on the van — but he did not spit into the van. He said at that point the men got out, began attacking him, and he simply defended himself.
“These guys were trying to run me over,” Glans told KGW News. “I was trying to protect myself.”
Glans said he didn’t know what to do after the ordeal, so he just headed to work. He admits that he should have waited for police to arrive.
“I fled the scene, which I shouldn’t have done,” said Glans. “But I was freaked out and terrified.”
He’s concerned that he’s the victim of an anti-bike culture in Portland…”
I’m not sure what to make of all this. There are a lot of people with different types of vehicles trying to make their way around on our roads. Sometimes those people get upset with each other if they feel threatened and/or disrespected in some way. Sometimes people are just rude and they forget to exercise common decency and patience for their fellow humans. Glans is due in court Friday afternoon and I hope the judge can sort everything out fairly.