ILLEGAL CONFISCATION OF BICYCLE BY UCPD

Date of Incident: December 11, 2001
Received: December 12, 2001

Box 15071
Berkeley, CA  94712-6071
December 11, 2001
 
 
Victoria Harrison, Chief of Police
UCPD
Room 1 Sproul Hall                Via Facsimile: (510) 642-9483
University of California
Berkeley, CA  94720-1199

RE: FORMAL COMPLAINT REGARDING OFFICER THEIO, UCPD # 89

Chief Harrison:

This letter is being sent to file a FORMAL complaint regarding a
detention, citation and confiscation which I was subjected to this
morning, Tuesday, December 11, 2001, by UCPD officer John Thieo, #89, who
was driving a marked UCPD patrol car with license 956151.

At approximately 12:14 AM, I was travelling eastbound on Kittredge riding
my friend's orange Peugeot "Mojave" mountain bicycle, while hauling my 6'
utility trailer.  I reached the stop sign at Oxford, where I came to a
complete stop.  I noticed officer Thieo's patrol car at the Touchless car
wash to my right.  As I had just left the BART station, I double-checked
that my cat-eye bike light was on by waving my hand in front of it, and I
noted that it was.  I then turned right and proceeded southbound on Oxford
towards Bancroft.

I then encountered Officer Thieo when he came barreling out of the parking
lot towards me while looking in the other direction.  I honestly was
scared that he might hit me.  I hit the brakes and he saw me, stopping
just in time.  We made eye contact, so I pointed to my right eye with my
right index finger and tapped lightly twice beside my temple to indicate
the importance of looking before entering traffic. I then proceeded to
travel on, but only got approximately 10-20 feet before officer Thieo lit
his lights and pulled me over.  I stopped as soon as was safely possible,
approximately 20 feet from the intersection of Oxford and Bancroft, turned
off my bicycle light as I do by habit to save batteries, got off and laid
the bicycle on the curb, and stood on the sidewalk.  I grabbed a piece of
postal mail from my "Bike to Work Day" hand bag and a pen from my pocket
and recorded that the time was 12:15 AM, recorded the patrol car's license
plate, and began to write what was happening.

The officer stepped out of his car and walked towards me.  I asked Officer
Thieo why I had been pulled over and he asserted that I needed a light on
the front of my bicycle.  I expressed my surprise and showed him my light,
and showed him that it worked by turning it on and off again.  He went
back to his car, evidently to get a citation book.  I asked him to
identify himself by name and badge number and he refused, saying it would
be "on the citation".

Another officer, J. Suezake, UCPD #77, arrived at the scene and conferred
with officer Thieo at the rear bumper of his vehicle, farthest from me.  
When I approached to ask a question, officer Thieo ordered me to get back
by my bicycle.

The first of at least three witnesses arrived and I recorded her name and
phone number, and showed her that my light was indeed mounted on the front
of my bicycle and worked.

Officer Thieo eventually came over and asked me if my address was current
on my identification, and whether my bicycle was registered.  I said the
address was current, but that I didn't know if the bicycle was registered.  
We looked and it wasn't.  I said it wasn't my bicycle, that I was
borrowing it.  Thieo asserted that he would therefore confiscate the
bicycle.  I asked him what legal authority he had to confiscate the
bicycle, and he could name none, although we both recalled the section for
registering a bicycle to be in the area of the 39000 sections of the
vehicle code.  He walked away again, and officer Suezake approached me.  
I showed officer Suezake that I did in fact have a light and that it
functioned properly, as I had done to the earlier witness, to officer
Thieo, and as they arrived, to the additional two witnesses.

I was issued a citation which I was told was for not having a light, in
blatant denial of the fact that I had a light mounted on my bicycle!

My friend's bicycle was loaded into the back of a patrol car and driven
away, leaving me with my long trailer, my bag, my light, and my helmet --
but no bicycle to actually get these things where they were going.  It was
now 12:29 AM, with not much hope of getting on BART or getting a bus.  
From a public safety standpoint, the confiscation of my primary
transportation, the bicycle I was riding, left me at risk, in the cold,
late at night, without adequate transportation options.

In addition, it was noted by witnesses that the officer did not inform me
of any options for dealing with the citation, such as diversion or getting
signed off as a "fix-it" ticket.  One wonders how much more "fixed" my
"not having" a bicycle light could get, considering I had one the entire
time and was using it in full compliance with the law.

My citation has errors on it.  The date lists Dec. 10, not Dec. 11.  The
section number reads VC 21209(d), which does not exist (CVC 21209 concerns
driving in the bicycle lane):

21209.  (a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle in a bicycle lane
established on a roadway pursuant to Section 21207 except as follows:
   (1) To park where parking is permitted.
   (2) To enter or leave the roadway.
   (3) To prepare for a turn within a distance of 200 feet from the
intersection.
   (b) This section does not prohibit the use of a motorized bicycle
in a bicycle lane, pursuant to Section 21207.5, at a speed no greater
than is reasonable or prudent, having due regard for visibility,
traffic conditions, and the condition of the roadway surface of the
bicycle lane, and in a manner which does not endanger the safety of
bicyclists.


The appropriate charge might be 21201(d)(1):

(d) Every bicycle operated upon any highway during darkness shall
be equipped (1) with a lamp emitting a white light which, while the
bicycle is in motion, illuminates the highway in front of the
bicyclist and is visible from a distance of 300 feet in front and
from the sides of the bicycle; (2)  with a red reflector on the rear
which shall be visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear when
directly in front of lawful upper beams of headlamps on a motor
vehicle; (3) with a white or yellow reflector on each pedal visible
from the front and rear of the bicycle from a distance of 200 feet;
and (4) with a white or yellow reflector on each side forward of the
center of the bicycle, and with a white or red reflector on each side
to the rear of the center of the bicycle, except that bicycles which
are equipped with reflectorized tires on the front and the rear need
not be equipped with these side reflectors.  Such reflectors and
reflectorized tires shall be of a type meeting requirements
established by the department.
 
Appropriate, that is, but for the fact that it was inapplicable as I had a
light.
 
The citation also erroneously listed my speed as 5 MPH, it was probably
closer to 10-12 MPH.   The citation also listed the street as Fulton
rather than Oxford, but Oxford does turn into Fulton at Bancroft.
 
In addition, the officer left without giving me a property receipt.
 
This is not the first time that UCPD officers have been involved in the
confiscation of my bicycle and/or trailer, and there is every reason to
suspect harassment in this case.
 
Please place and retain this complaint in the personnel file of officer
Thieo and contact me as to the next steps in the complaint process.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jason Meggs, Director
Bicycle Civil Liberties Union 
P.O. Box 15071
Berkeley, CA  94712-6071
 
WEB: http://www.bclu.org/
 
Office:    (510) 643-6768 (w)
Facsimile: (510) 486-1528
Pager:     (510) 720-2818
 
 
CC:  UC Berkeley Chancellor Berdahl
     UC Police Review 
     Mayor Dean and City Council
     City of Berkeley Police Review Commission
     City of Berkeley Transportation Commission
     Bicycle Coalitions
     Media
 
 
 
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