PRESS RELEASE
Bike the Bridge! Coalition
Contact:
Jason Meggs, BTB!C East Bay Coordinator,
PAGE: 510-720-2818 ; work: 510-643-5722 ; voicemail: 510-273-9288
FAX: 510-486-1528 ; e-mail jmeggs@lmi.net
Web site http://www.bikethebridge.org/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 5, 2000
BAY BRIDGE BIKERS UPDATE
Felony charges dropped, three still face misdemeanors
Quality hi-8 footage of bridge ride available to share. Pictures of
arrestees free on website.
The seven bicyclists who were arrested by the CHP on the Bay Bridge
Monday, and then charged with numerous charges including felony Conspiracy
-- THREE BIKES AND YOU'RE OUT -- are now all out of jail. The one cyclist
who was still in jail until late Wednesday -- David Wedding Dress -- has
been released. He had been held on $5,712.00 bail.
David Wedding Dress, veteran bridge biker, now faces only an infraction for
biking on the bridge without a permit. Supporters in the courtroom
watched Dress refuse a deal to have his charge waved for time served
(three days) with a plea, as he wishes to fight the charge on the
principal that he was not guilty. Judge Krashna, who has found bridge
biker Jason Meggs to be not guilty in the past, stated, "I'm not
surprised."
Scott Goldsborough, first-time rider, is receiving the worst charges at this
point. He faces PC 148A (resisting arrest), VC 2800 (failure to obey),
both misdemeanors, in addition to the infraction. To make matters worse,
poor Scott bailed out in order to return to his family life and job. His
wife is expecting a child. Scott had never been arrested. One driver on
the bridge has come forward to describe how the police tackled him from
behind without warning. We believe that the CHP are lying again to
justify their brutality. The brutality simply extends from using armed
force to require people to drive death machines.
Jason Meggs (see contact info above) still faces misdemeanor charges of PC
182M (conspiracy) and VC 2800, failure to obey, as well as the
infraction. The District Attorney attempted to require a stay-away order
to force Meggs not to be on the Bay Bridge with a bicycle. The judge
stated, "Well then how is going to get to court?" and refused the
order. Meggs has refused to waive time. His pretrial is set for October
17 in San Francisco, and a jury trial date set for November 3. We expect
these bogus charges to not make it to trial.
The remaining four cyclists -- two women and two men -- had their charges
dropped except for the infraction (VC 23330B, riding on a toll bridge
without a permit). They were released from SF jail Monday.
All the riders' bicycles are still in custody as "evidence". The CHP also
confiscated backpacks and papers from riders' pockets. All was taken
illegally because no property receipt was given. Note that a drunk driver
usually gets ahz motorcar back at once, but these riders may not see their
bicycles for months.
Cyclists are outraged that the CHP has abused its power to this great an
extent. While motorists who slay innocent people walk away without a
fine, the CHP is locking up peaceful protesters to punish them for
exercising their free speech rights. Biking the Bay Bridge is an
infraction, not an arrestable crime. Indeed, we demand that the bridge be
opened to bicyclists and pedestrians immediately. The riders did not
block traffic -- they ARE TRAFFIC. Cyclists rode in the far right side of
the right-hand lane and shared the road.
"When the Silicon Valley bubble bursts and the oil runs thin, we'll see
how high the weeds grow through the concrete covering this once beautiful
land, and we'll wish we had built sustainable, car-free cities well-served
by transit. California is already building new roads faster than we can
maintain them. New roads are a #1 cause of environmental destruction and
extinction. We are destroying not only habitat for nature, but habitat
for humans as we build sprawling communities too spread out and too
hostile for bicycling and walking, where transit cannot serve, where our
food can no longer be grown, and road where rage congestion
prevails," said Jason Meggs at a press conference outside the court
Wednesday. "The system is clearly not working if we can't even get
minimum safety standards mandated for new roads, let alone old roads."
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