Star/Tribune
LOS ANGELES - A former emergency room doctor who deliberately braked so that two bicyclists rammed into his car in a road rage assault was sentenced Friday to five years in state prison. Christopher Thompson, 60, wept and apologized to the two injured riders before he was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Thompson, who worked at Beverly Hospital in Montebello, has been jailed since he was convicted in November of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, reckless driving and mayhem. Thompson deliberately hit his brakes, causing the bicyclists to hit the back of his Infiniti sedan on July 4, 2008, prosecutors said. One rider smashed through the back window, breaking his nose and front teeth. The other crashed to the pavement, separating his shoulder.
Ron Peterson, who crashed through the window, told the judge that he was permanently scarred. "My nose was nearly torn from my face. ... I've had plastic surgery," he said. "The scars on my face remind me of the pain and trauma I went through because Dr. Thompson didn't like cyclists riding on his road."
At trial, Thompson said that he and other Brentwood residents were angry because some bicyclists were ignoring stop signs or riding abreast, impeding cars on narrow Mandeville Canyon Road. Thompson said several cyclists who were riding side by side had sworn at him and made a rude gesture after he told them to ride single file. The physician said he didn't intend to hurt anyone and only stopped to photograph the riders.
The bicyclists, however, said Thompson had aggressively honked and driven past them, then pulled in front and suddenly braked. A police officer testified that Thompson said he hit the brakes to "teach them a lesson." Prosecutors said Thompson had braked suddenly in front of other bicyclists four months earlier but nobody was hurt.
The case prompted a deluge of letters and e-mails to the court. About 160 people wrote to support Thompson while more than 270 messages, including some from bicyclists and doctors as far away as China, urged a tough sentence.
Judge Scott T. Millington said he did not take into account the hundreds of letters and e-mails from bicyclists when considering the sentence. However, the judge said he believed Thompson had not shown remorse during the case.
I believe that Thompson got what he deserved because if you want to handle something like this you should talk to the people. I feel that it was a very bad choice for Thompson to do this, he has scarred 2 people for life. Not only can he not get the bicyclist to stop riding like they do but now he has to sit in prison for 5 years.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Thompson should have went in front of the bicyclists and slammed on his brakes just because they weren't following the road signs and driving on his road. Thompson should have flagged them over to the side of the road or told them to stop and just talked to them instead of injuring them. I think Thompson deserves jail-time for this, because I sure wouldn't like to be injured just because I driving a little bit reckless. I think Thompson should feel horrible about one of them flying through his back window and having to get plastic surgery. Also, the other bicyclist crashed into the pavement and skid, yeah I'd feel bad. The worst part is that he was an emergency doctor, you would think that he would be the last person to do something like this, after seeing related accidents. So overall, I think Thompson definitely deserves the jail-time.
ReplyDeleteThis is a prime example of someone with a bit of a self-control problem. Although both sides of the issue have their faults, I'm inclined to say that Thompson takes the blame for this one. This could have been avoided if the cyclists had been riding on the sidewalk, but also if Thompson hadn't been so quick to defend his driving space. I imagine that a person of Thompson's standing wouldn't take this too lightly either. It will probably take quite a while for him to regain respect in the community. In that mean time, the city could work on bike paths to avoid such incidents in the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everybody here, Thompson has not only injured two people here and scarred them for life, but has lost all respect from people and will probably when he gets out of jail never work as a doctor again. Although the byciclists should have been in between the cars instead of right behind them. So all in all the doctor got what he deserved, good quality jailtime.
ReplyDeleteI understand that bicyclists not following traffic laws could make a person angry, but what Thompson did was way out of line. He obviously has serious anger issues and along with his 5 years in prison, (which I think is well warranted), I think he should have to go through anger management sessions. He should've been able to handle this without hurting anybody. I think Logan and David bring up a great point: since he was a doctor he was probably well-respected, but now he's lost all of that for an extreme example of a temper tantrum.
ReplyDeleteI think both parties were out of line here. The bikers should have respected the right of way to the car. The car should have had the courtesy to just let it slide. It wasnt all that big of a deal. Thompson sould have asked more nicely and maybe the bikers wouldnt have been so rude about it but instead he flipped out at them so they retaliated. Thompson then took thesituation a step too far and purposefully stopped his car so as to hit the bikers. He was way out of line on this. He should have either ignored the problem or asked nicely. If the bikers still resisted than he should have taken it to a someone who could have solved the problem or maybe fined the bikers. He should not have taken the situation into his own hands. I think he deserves the punishment he got Because he made all the wrong choices.
ReplyDeleteI think thompson went to far. He should have talked to them before coming to conclusions. They could have worked something out and prevented bad outcomes. Also i do believe that the bicyclists should have been off the roads doing the correct thing by getting out of the vehicles way. Thompson should have watched his temper.
ReplyDeleteI think that this guy got what he deserved. he shouldnt have stoped because the biker were too close to his car. 5 years is good because he can think about what he did wrong!
ReplyDeleteI think it’s horrible that Christopher Thompson has to go prison for 5 years. He is a doctor and a person should not suffer so much for what he did. I don’t think that crime is serious enough. When the bikers use the same road as a car, they need to be driving smart. Mr. Thompson could do some kind of community service instead.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Kevin because what Thompson did was wrong. He probably has a lot of respect in his town for being a doctor, and slamming on his breaks so the bikers hit him was just a stupid move on his part. I'm assuming that he lost a lot of respect for this because that's basically hurting someone on purpose and for a dumb reason. Just because he was getting frustrated with them he didn't need to stop right in front of them. I think he definately deserves his jail time and he should probably get some help with his anger issues.
ReplyDeleteWhat Thompson did was wrong, but I'm not going to lie, I would probably get really annoyed and just end up yelling at them or something. He could of handled it differently and just talked to them instead of slamming on his breaks. There's no reason for someone, a doctor with a good reputation, to do something like that when he knows it will probably hurt the people. It was a bad decision on his part and I think he deserves his jail time.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Kevin because Thompson intentionally stopped directly in front of the two byciclists. He more then likely knew that they would run into him and get injured. I believe that he deserves the five years in prison because of what he did.
ReplyDeleteWell i guess its all a matter of opinion. Yes, wat he did was wrong. But the two people on the bike should know that thats how people do get hurt, from not following signs especially in vehicle traffic. But usually they dont get hurt like they did. I'd have to say i agree with everyone who thinks he deserves jail time.
ReplyDeleteI think Thompson deserved to get jail time, he shouldn't done such a thing, seriously that guy just needs to chill down a bit..I don't blame him for getting angry when there's a bunch of people being totally rude to you...but sorry isn't going to help especially when those biker dudes almost died. It's not like your gonna forgive someone when you just went through their back window. But then again the bikers kinda had it comming to them. They should of abided by the law, and ride like a normal person, not like some moron.
ReplyDeleteI think that Thompson acted wrong. If he was mad that they were riding double on the rode then he should of just pulled over and talked to them. He shouldn't of slamed on his brakes in front of them and cause them to hit his car. I think that he got what he deserved the five years in prison.
ReplyDeleteI think that Thompson was wrong for slamming on the breaks and injuring the bikers but honestly the bikers were not totally inocent either. In my oppinion he didnt just hurt the bikers for the fun of it. They obviously did something wrong and should also get some punishment. Also 5 years is a bit harsh in my mind for a crime like that. I'm not sure on the judicial systems way of handling things like this but I think this was way to much.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Alex on this one. The bikers were kinda out of line tho to. If they are going to not ride thier bike properly than why should they be able to ride on the road at all. Avoiding street signs and making bad gestures toward other drivers in cars. I personally think they kinda had that coming to get hit by someone. Granted it caused injury but I don't think they will want to disobay the law or tick another driver off. But also 5 years is a little to long for a guy to go to prison for, something like this, maybe like 3 yr or 2 with some community service.
ReplyDeleteThompson was obviously wrong for slamming on his breaks, but 5 year in prison for that come on...... Maybe put him in the clink for 2 years and make him take classes or something but sitting in prison while Americans pay for him.....Take it easy, I mean really he made one stupid mistake and now Americans have to pay for him for the next 5 years....Nobody thought about that did ya.... Just ridiculous that a well respected man has to be sitting in prison for the next 5 years.
ReplyDeleteThompson definitely did something wrong in stopping in front of the bikers, but 5 years is pretty harsh. Everybody sees people doing stupid stuff on the road and gets mad but most people don't act on these feelings. That is why i think Thompson should still be punished. Hopefully next time something like this happens the sentence isn't as harsh.
ReplyDeleteSelf control is far easier preached than practiced and I really can't say too much against him. I see where he is coming from but he took it farther than I would have. The cyclists sounded like they were being annoying but he could have killed someone. If you kill someone I'm doubting the justice system will care if they flicked you off.
ReplyDeleteI think punishment is needed but the most important is do things to improve the traffic between cars and cyclists. The thing is avoid it to happend so you don't have to worry about punishment.
ReplyDeleteFive years in an exaggeration. There is people who do things worst than this and don't receive this same verdict.
Luiza Evangelista
Personally i think this biker was crazy. As a doctor how can you have that little paitince for such a small deal. He caused 2 people to get hurt pretty badly, plus ,as logan said, he will never be able to be a doctor anymore. I agree with david and luiza that they could make better bike paths and such but for now they need to worry about crazy drivers like Thompson
ReplyDeleteI agree Luiza he does deserve to get punished for wat he did.I mean not everybody gets mad and goes and gets charged with reckless driving i Mean come on! most of us would stay calm and figure it out on our own not get mad and do that! I mean hes a doctor he is sapost to save lifes not try and cause them!
ReplyDeleteI dont think that it was okay that he did that but he was just trying to teach them a lesson, but i agree and think it would tick me off. He did get pretty mad though and i dont think it was the best thing to do he could have just honked his horn or something
ReplyDeletetori lambrides ^^^^^^^
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