I was ambushed

Let's just say I found another reason to wear a helmet while riding.

I was about a mile from home (Irving Park Road & Sheridan Road in Chicago) when car A cut me off to make a right turn in front of me. She winged me with her car and, when I tried to catch my balance, my chain skipped the ring. The driver of the car is yelling at me to go (which I couldn't do since my chain was still messed up) and then the driver of car B, who didn't like the fact he was being delayed, hopped out of his car, came up from behind and sucker punched me in the head without saying a word. He then proceeded to continue punching me until he had me and my bike on the ground. (It's tough to fight back when you're still clipped in and wearing big ol' expedition weight mittens.) 

Anyways, a lot of people saw what was happening. The woman in the car behind hopped out of her car and got his license plate (thanks April!) and a fourth car took chase after the culprit and his group (there were 3 people with him) fled once they saw they had an audience. (But not before stealing one of my mittens.)

Long story short, Chicago Police came and were very nice but, because it was an out of state plate (no one knows what state) and because they couldn't find the car (which had, strangely, parked around the corner for a while before fleeing) they said there's not a lot they can do other than file a battery report. One of the officers did find my stolen mitten. Seems the perp decided to dump it in the road down the block since they didn't want to be caught with evidence.

I'm a bit stiff and my poor Hampsten is a bit scuffed, but fortunately damage doesn't look too severe. I haven't given my bike the once over yet (it's still covered in road grime from today's ride) and my kit is a bit grubby from the city street, but I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day and will deal with that stuff later. Guess it's good I had on so many layers.

But if you see a light colored car with the license plate VQL543 (CORRECTED), the guy's a real dirtbag. And wanted for battery.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 12, 2014 at 1:40pm

I'm sorry this happened to you. I get on and off the LFT there all the time. It's a terrible spot for cyclists.

This guy really needs to be caught or he'll kill somebody one day. That plate seems unique enough that it might be the only one of its kind nationally. Is there anything more the police can do to track it down? Do you have any more details?

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 12, 2014 at 1:44pm

grrr. Sorry you had to have that experience Brian. I'm glad to hear that you and your bike got through it without being severely injured. 

Permalink Reply by Heather on January 12, 2014 at 1:47pm

This is horrible! Please take care of yourself and try to follow up with the police. It seems ridiculous that they can't find the car. I would be completely furious.

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on January 12, 2014 at 1:51pm

Unbelievable that the Chicago police do not have the ability to track a out of state license plate. If you went to the hospital they should have filed a aggravated battery report which is a class 3 felony. Chicago seems to be getting out of hand with crime.

Permalink Reply by Ashley Tanner on January 12, 2014 at 2:13pm

Terrible! Glad you are okay. I used to live over there and started getting off the trail by Waveland (I believe) where you could go through the tunnel. I hope this guy gets caught, or karma catches up with him eventually. I'll keep an eye out for that license plate for sure!

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on January 12, 2014 at 3:49pm

The police should have done more for you. Perhaps if you were an attractive female they may have?? I would inquire at the station why they can't pursue charges. Tell them you think they had a weapon and they may be more inclined to do something.

Permalink Reply by Tom Z on January 12, 2014 at 4:09pm

Thank Sucks!

It sounds like nobody knew the state of the plate, so I'm sure it takes more than just punching a plate into the system. Since it is an assault, did the police say they are going to work on the case anymore?


El Dorado said:

Unbelievable that the Chicago police do not have the ability to track a out of state license plate. If you went to the hospital they should have filed a aggravated battery report which is a class 3 felony. Chicago seems to be getting out of hand with crime.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on January 13, 2014 at 4:05am

It can't be that hard to run the plate for the police.  There are really only 51 possible US plates -- and of those quite a few are not "realistic" (Hawaii, Alaska to name the most obvious two).     If the car type and color is known, it should be easy to check.  And, at a minimum, they should try the usual suspects (Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa)....

And yes, Chicago has gotten out of hand with crime.   The police are too busy fighting the drug wars to do much of anything else.    Essentially murder or a particularly grusome rape (or a crime which aggravates an alderman) are the only ones being prosecuted.  We, along with most American Cities, have become the West of the 1860's...

Permalink Reply by David P. on January 13, 2014 at 4:23am

Unfortunately identifying license plates is a lot harder than it need to be. Nearly all states have, often, dozens of different varieties of plates that can be used. I do not know whether, for any given state, a particular alphanumeric combination can be used on more than one variety of plate, but at the least it can make state identification difficult to impossible if it's not the standard state plate.

It is also wildly hyperbolic to consider crime in Chicago, or any other American city, to be "...the West of the 1860s"; violent crime rates in America, particularly in cities, are something like half what they were twenty years ago.

Permalink Reply by Tom Z on January 13, 2014 at 4:54am

+1

David P. said:

Unfortunately identifying license plates is a lot harder than it need to be. Nearly all states have, often, dozens of different varieties of plates that can be used. I do not know whether, for any given state, a particular alphanumeric combination can be used on more than one variety of plate, but at the least it can make state identification difficult to impossible if it's not the standard state plate.

It is also wildly hyperbolic to consider crime in Chicago, or any other American city, to be "...the West of the 1860s"; violent crime rates in America, particularly in cities, are something like half what they were twenty years ago.

Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on January 13, 2014 at 5:04am

This is ridiculous! I cannot believe that the police cannot do anything. What a stupid excuse...because the state is not known, it is not possible to identify...I cannot believe that to be true. What they really mean is that they do not consider you a priority to do a little extra work.

If this assault had been in a different context, say for example, someone was killed, or if Brian was some local bigwig, then the police would be getting creative on how to identify possible cars with the numbers provided to them.

Given that you even have witnesses I would say this a situation where you ought to go to all media outlets available.

That person's behavior is absolutely criminal and took place with intention and malice. It does no matter that you were not seriously injured...that was luck due to others being around to scare him off.

I am so thankful you were not more seriously hurt!

Permalink Reply by dan brown on January 13, 2014 at 5:05am

hire a lawyer. they live for stuff like this. you won't regret it. at least it'll provide some closure.

DHB

p.s. what a terrible thing. so sorry; but glad you lived to type about it.

 

I was jumped at North and Western a few years ago and the dudes that beat me up (they broke my leg) filed charges against me (as a pre-emptive measure; only reason they did was because I the could not press charges against them). the only consolation was that the ER nurses told me there were three different blood types on my hands and none were mine (O+); so I gave those three a##holes bloody faces and noses.

 

Hope you get some good closure -- some people turn into violent animals when they get behind the wheel; and add booze and drugs and it's deadly. He will get his due eventually (karma is real).

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