At victim’s urging, no jail time for people who tied string across I-205 path

Carlene Ostedegaard after being cut by string that was purposely placed across the I-205 path.
(A friend of Carlene Ostedegaard)

Last week the man accused of tying a string across the I-205 bike path in order to hurt someone was sentenced to 20 hours of community service. When we shared that on Twitter, some of our followers felt the consequences should have been more severe.

After all, the string caused several lacerations to the face and neck of Montavilla resident Carlene Ostedegaard, who was biking home from work when she became ensared in the trap.

Today the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced that it was Ms. Ostedegaard’s request that the people who caused her injuries were not jailed.

The DA’s office said the parties in the case have reached a pretrial resolution. 23-year-old Raven Jones was the “primary actor” in the incident and pleaded to one count of assault in the third degree, a Class C felony. Here’s more from the DA’s office:

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Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Katharine von Ter Stegge put Jones on 36 months of formal probation, ordered that she conduct 40 hours of community service, undergo an alcohol evaluation and perform any recommended treatment, write the victim an apology letter within two weeks, and continue to work with a homeless outreach program.

The other person involved in the incident, 27-year-old Antonio Tolman-Duran, has received 12 months probation and must perform 20 hours of community service. Tolman-Duran pleaded no contest to one count of recklessly endangering another person.

“From the onset of this case, the victim expressed her desire that the defendants not be sent to jail and that she receive an apology letter. We are fortunate that the injuries in this case were not more serious,” said Deputy District Attorney Todd Jackson in statement. “These defendants purposefully took string, tied it tightly on both ends across a multi-use path near I-205 and Southeast Division Street.”

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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J_R
J_R
4 years ago

Ms. Ostedegaard is much more forgiving than I am. These two perpetrators caused bodily injury. These two may deserve some generosity and forgiveness, but the message sent by their slap-on-the-wrist sentence is “as long as it’s only a cyclist who is harmed, it’s pretty much OK.” If these two had hurled rocks through windshields of cars on I-205, would the DA and the court have been so lenient?

dwk
dwk
4 years ago

It is not really her choice in the matter. She does not represent all cyclists or victims anymore than the two that were arrested represent all homeless living on the i-205 path.
They committed an act that could easily have resulted in death and terrorized the other path users (like me) who have to be on the look out for such devices.
Maybe the DA had more info but the victim of a crime should not determine the sentence. That is on society to decide these matters.

PdxPhoenix
PdxPhoenix
4 years ago
Reply to  dwk

Agreed, and yet the courts allow victim impact statements, & allow victims to address the court/jury as to the impact of the accused/convicted person actions all the time… (We know it was bad, a crime was committed; and we know it was probably fairly horrible as there’s a trial going on, sheese)
Slap-on-the-wrist type sentences should be reserved for those who are more of a nuisance than a threat (if only the first time, as if they’ve not learned to behave/restrain themselves, society must do it for them).

Middle of The Road Guy
Middle of The Road Guy
4 years ago
Reply to  dwk

That’s how we arrived at mandatory minimums…which have been criticized as being unfair since they remove judicial discretion. But then we get cases like this where the punishment really does not seem to be proportionate to the crime.

Like most things, either extreme is usually too far.

Toby Keith
Toby Keith
4 years ago

Well thanks a lot for that. Not.

Mark smith
Mark smith
4 years ago

Unbelievable. Thanks a lot for taking one for the team.

Chris I
Chris I
4 years ago

I wonder if she would have said the same had the perpetrators been housed, car-driving people?

soren
soren
4 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

As you know very well, Chris I, Tolman and Jones were housed people who specifically targeted houseless folk. It’s awful that after this act of grace by Ms Ostedegaard that you continue to use this incident to falsely promote bigotry.

https://bikeportland.org/2018/11/14/guest-opinion-im-disturbed-by-anti-houseless-bigotry-on-bikeportland-292099

(Tolman lived/lives with family and Jones lived in an Home Forward apartment building.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following this attack, this site became a hotbed for anti-houseless bigotry — with a constant refrain of false accusations and threats directed at houseless folk. It not only festered here in hate-permissive comment threads but spread elsewhere and resulted in harassment and threats against houseless folk and their supporters.

https://bikeportland.org/2018/11/14/guest-opinion-im-disturbed-by-anti-houseless-bigotry-on-bikeportland-292099

The blog host and others were recently lamenting the loss of political power by cycling advocates.

Why would Portland progressives support a movement that is so associated with — or at least very permissive of — bigotry?

Bike Guy
Bike Guy
4 years ago
Reply to  soren

> why would progressives support

if this is what your “support” looks like, I think we can do without it.

Chris I
Chris I
4 years ago
Reply to  soren

An apartment is not a house, so that makes him houseless, right?

Middle of The Road Guy
Middle of The Road Guy
4 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

why don’t you ask her?

bryan
bryan
4 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

But that wasn’t the case in this situation. Why inflate the situation with an imaginary scenario?

farron
farron
4 years ago

Well now, bless her heart.

Bryan Sampsel
Bryan Sampsel
4 years ago

Carlene Ostedegaard is a hero: compassion and forgiveness take discipline and are in short supply. Although I don’t know her or her motivation, she’s the victim and I applaud her choice. I feel safer knowing people like her live next to me.

dwk
dwk
4 years ago
Reply to  Bryan Sampsel

It is wonderful that she forgives them in her heart…
I still want people who attempt to murder me or others (and that is what this was), off the streets for long time.

Middle of The Road Guy
Middle of The Road Guy
4 years ago
Reply to  dwk

I think “murder” might be a little hyperbolic. I understand that is what you believe, but that does not really represent what their intent was. Murder requires intent and they did not say they intended to kill anyone.

Skid
Skid
4 years ago

Facepalm. People who do sh1t like this need to learn from their mistakes, and they won’t if it is a slap on the wrist. They will just go out and do the same thing again. It will just let people who about doing sh1t like this know that they can get away with it.

Their compassion is likely to get others hurt.

9watts
9watts
4 years ago
Reply to  Skid

You have no idea what you are talking about. Restorative Justice is a thing.
I will add my thanks to the victim for taking this step. May we all learn something from it.

TJ
TJ
4 years ago

I almost got clotheslined under Sandy overpass on I-205 path this Spring. Head was down looking at debris on the pavement and whatever was strung across bounced up off my helmet. No injury, just startled. Called the police and haven’t ridden thru there since.

Toby Keith
Toby Keith
4 years ago
Reply to  TJ

Yeah I had my own scare at that overpass and they sure as hell weren’t “housed” folk.