NationStates Jolt Archive

What's wrong with people nowadays? One of the kids has 500 stiches......



Trio arrested in motorcycle crash
ACCUSED OF STRINGING ROPE ACROSS ROADWAY
By Kimra McPherson
Mercury News

Courtesy of Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office
From left: Donald Bryant, Edward Anderson, Donna Olsen.
Three Los Gatos residents who allegedly strung a rope across a roadway and seriously injured a passing motorcyclist were arrested Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office reported.

Donald Bryant, 62, Donna Olsen, 46, and Edward Anderson, 48, all were taken into custody on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and battery causing serious bodily injury, sheriff's spokesman Deputy Serg Palanov said.

The incident took place on Loma Chiquita Road, a private road in the unincorporated hills above Los Gatos where motorcycle riding has caused conflict among residents, Palanov said.

Bryant, Olsen and Anderson apparently saw a group of dirt bikers leave the neighborhood May 6 for a ride through the hills nearby, Palanov said. While the bikers were gone, the trio allegedly tied a rope to a tree on one side of the road. Then they crouched in the bushes on the other side, waiting for the bikers to return.

The riders came back around 8 p.m., Palanov said. The first motorcyclist was traveling between 20 and 25 mph as he rode toward the rope. When he got close, the trio allegedly pulled the rope taut across the road.

The rope struck the motorcyclist in the jaw, Palanov said, and he was thrown backward, landing on the ground on top of his motorcycle.

The second rider to approach the rope noticed his companion on the ground, Palanov said. He was able to slow to 5 mph before striking the rope -- which, he told deputies, he saw being pulled taut -- and sustained minor injuries.

The first motorcyclist spent five days in a coma and required more than 500 stitches and several titanium plates in his face to repair bone damage and tissue loss, Palanov said. The man is no longer in a coma, but Palanov could not say if he was still in the hospital.

Eyewitness interviews ultimately led sheriff's deputies to Bryant, Olsen and Anderson, Palanov said.

Hahahaaha!


...AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAhahahahaaa! *whew!*






heh heh heeheehee

I hope they get a nice long prison stay ... they deserve it

On the one hand, decapitation is probably not the best way to handle tresspassing. On the other, nothing wrong with respecting people's private property.

It's like the horror movie rules. Yeah, they're psychopaths and assholes, but if the protagonists were smart careful good people, they would have escaped largely unharmed. They may not have deserved it, but they sure invited it.

Donald Bryant, 62, Donna Olsen, 46, and Edward Anderson, 48, all were taken into custody...
Damn youngsters, running around causing trouble. Haven't they got anything better to do? Shouldn't they be at school? Personally I blame violent video games! :mad:

People should stop imitating the Simpsons.

Damn youngsters, running around causing trouble. Haven't they got anything better to do? Shouldn't they be at school? Personally I blame violent video games! :mad:


Nowadays shit, things like this have always happend, and I guess they always will.

Damn youngsters, running around causing trouble. Haven't they got anything better to do? Shouldn't they be at school? Personally I blame violent video games! :mad:
Yeah. I bet they've been going to Maddox's site as well! MAM no good

On the one hand, decapitation is probably not the best way to handle tresspassing. On the other, nothing wrong with respecting people's private property.

It's like the horror movie rules. Yeah, they're psychopaths and assholes, but if the protagonists were smart careful good people, they would have escaped largely unharmed. They may not have deserved it, but they sure invited it.

Nothing in the report says whose land it was. Nice assumption you made. It could just as easily belong to the motorcyclists as it could to the assholes.

Damn youngsters, running around causing trouble. Haven't they got anything better to do? Shouldn't they be at school? Personally I blame violent video games!
Come on, it's not their fault... kids will be kids after all, they need their fun, even if they do get that fun by accidentally killing or injuring people. You heartless person!
What is wrong with people nowadays?
They exist.

I know...I hope the rot for a while. What were they expecting NOT to get caught?

I can see it from the assholes' point-of-view. It bugs the crap out of me when people decide to ride motorcycles all over everything in sight up in the area where my cottage stands. Just about as much as the snowmobile crowd.

Whoo-hoo! Nature! Let's grind it under our wheels and scare off all the wildlife. Dicks.

Still and all, there's no call for what the assholes did. I'd just throw caltrops along the bike trails instead.

On the one hand, decapitation is probably not the best way to handle tresspassing. On the other, nothing wrong with respecting people's private property.

It's like the horror movie rules. Yeah, they're psychopaths and assholes, but if the protagonists were smart careful good people, they would have escaped largely unharmed. They may not have deserved it, but they sure invited it.

who allegedly strung a rope across a roadway and seriously injured a passing motorcyclist

They put the roap across a PUBLIC ROADWAY ... this was not protecting their land this was revenge/asshatary

What's wrong with people nowadays?

I agree with you 100%. And I am 17. So many people these days and crazy and stupid.

Yeah. I bet they've been going to Maddox's site as well! MAM no good
I expect he will recommend "post-birth abortion" as well.

On the one hand, decapitation is probably not the best way to handle tresspassing. On the other, nothing wrong with respecting people's private property.

It's like the horror movie rules. Yeah, they're psychopaths and assholes, but if the protagonists were smart careful good people, they would have escaped largely unharmed. They may not have deserved it, but they sure invited it.

Sure, lets call open game on anyone we don’t like, they invited after all. If you don’t like what their doing or they break a minor law, we could be judge, jury, and executioner. In fact living by movie rules sounds fun, guns hold nearly unlimited ammo, and everything blows up, and why bother with the real world? :rolleyes:

Your response was the dumbest response I've heard in a long time, my only worry is some moron like you will make it on to the jury.

What's wrong with people nowadays? One of the kids has 500 stiches......
I agree with you 100%. And I am 17. So many people these days and crazy and stupid.

You think people were incapable of this kind of asshattery in the past?

That's kinda fucked up really..
Not that nice.

They put the roap across a PUBLIC ROADWAY ... this was not protecting their land this was revenge/asshatary

The report says:
The incident took place on Loma Chiquita Road, a private road in the unincorporated hills above Los Gatos
So wrong, it was not a public road. But the report does not say who the road belongs to.

There have been incidents where kids threw large rocks and bricks off bridges onto the Autobahn over here. Interestingly enough, the last incident I can remember was comitted by some military brats with the excuse "It's typically American to do this!"

There have been incidents where kids threw large rocks and bricks off bridges onto the Autobahn over here. Interestingly enough, the last incident I can remember was comitted by some military brats with the excuse "It's typically American to do this!"
Something like that happened here and it killed someone. Then it happened again and nearly killed someone. Then the police found who it was and they got arrested and charged with manslaughter. Bastard.

On the one hand, decapitation is probably not the best way to handle tresspassing. On the other, nothing wrong with respecting people's private property.

.


Were the bikers a part of the community with the private road? Were they trespassing? I missed that bit.

Nothing in the report says whose land it was. Nice assumption you made. It could just as easily belong to the motorcyclists as it could to the assholes.
A hahahaha. No. people on dirt bikes will FREQUENTLY think nothing of doing whatever on whoevers land. Part of the fun is going to different places. Which, hey undercertain systems is a pefectly viable way to have things be, turns out it's often not acceptable in a society which recognizes land ownership in the way ours does.

People pay a lot of money for exclusive use, principally to avoid being annoyed by people they consider to be assholes. When they don't get what they paid for due to the poor consideration of others and particularly when the powers that be don't consider the complaint a serious matter, they're liable to be proactive. Hence "Tresspassers will be shot" signs. Doesn't make what the people in this story did right, or shooting tresspassers for that matter. But we'd be naive to deny the possibility. It's not like there isn't a rich history of killing people for just such infractions. They went where they were unwanted and had no right to be, it's a risk they took, and one was REALLY unlucky.

They put the roap across a PUBLIC ROADWAY ... this was not protecting their land this was revenge/asshatary

"Loma Chiquita Road, a private road." I see how you could make the mistake of infering it was a public road, it's buried a little in the middle. And I never said it was anything but asshattery. If you recall, I wrote that they were psychopaths, but the lack of consideration on the part of the dirt bikers invited the psychopaths into their lives. Doesn't make the psychopaths better people.

Protagenast,

I know reading is hard. Thinking too, and we don't even need to talk about math. But the people around you are judge jury and excecutioner. It's the natural way of things. That we mannage, on occasion, to sublimate immediate, visceral, definitive gratification of punishing those who transgress against us out of a blind faith in the, frequently failed, covenant of laws that bind us to each other is probably one of the greatest achievements of the West. Keep in mind we're all born the same, and the very notion of a world working like that is unimaginable to most people.

There are different kinds of morality. You can not throw your garbage over the fence and into your neighbors lawn because you're afraid of his reprisal, because of reprisal from the powers that be, out of simple respect for the law which recognizes his property, and out of empathy and respect for his time, effort and resources. But particularly in an area inbetween reason and the law, once you to transgress against the person next to you, they're forced to make their own judgement call. Their imperfect judgement might be killing you annoymously is a good risk. That the world, were it ideal, might be something else is immaterial.

Horror movies of course generally play upon this for entertainment. Don't invite evil into your life and it'll have a harder time catching you, though not for lack of trying. The real world is quite a bit more amoral obviously, but horror movies aren't about the random inequities of life, they're a reflection of the notions within the society that creates them. Turning a blind eye to those realities and behaving recklessly, well I guess it all depends on how lucky you feel. For my part I'm not so convinced of the charity of the person I might at any point find next to me that I'd antagonize them for my convience or entertainment. But that's me :)

A hahahaha. No. people on dirt bikes will FREQUENTLY think nothing of doing whatever on whoevers land. Part of the fun is going to different places. Which, hey undercertain systems is a pefectly viable way to have things be, turns out it's often not acceptable in a society which recognizes land ownership in the way ours does.

People pay a lot of money for exclusive use, principally to avoid being annoyed by people they consider to be assholes. When they don't get what they paid for due to the poor consideration of others and particularly when the powers that be don't consider the complaint a serious matter, they're liable to be proactive. Hence "Tresspassers will be shot" signs. Doesn't make what the people in this story did right, or shooting tresspassers for that matter. But we'd be naive to deny the possibility. It's not like there isn't a rich history of killing people for just such infractions. They went where they were unwanted and had no right to be, it's a risk they took, and one was REALLY unlucky.
What a presumptious self rightous idiot you really are.

Some few people on dirt bikes piss off land owners, true. Some SUV drivers also insist on doing the same, as do some dog owners (do you own a dog I wonder?) and some walkers (I presume you have two feet, so you are a trespasser then). Some people that use dirt bikes though, do so on their own land, or with permission, or on public land. But apparently you can tell from this report, in some paranormal fashion, that these bike rideres were trespassing. (Careful where you walk now, you may find a rope across your way at neck height.)


I could assume that the men who set up the rope were trespassing, with more reason. They have shown that they do not respect others in any way. The bike riders have not shown anything of the kind. Stop prejudging.

Protagenast,

I know reading is hard. Thinking too, and we don't even need to talk about math. But the people around you are judge jury and excecutioner. It's the natural way of things. That we mannage, on occasion, to sublimate immediate, visceral, definitive gratification of punishing those who transgress against us out of a blind faith in the, frequently failed, covenant of laws that bind us to each other is probably one of the greatest achievements of the West. Keep in mind we're all born the same, and the very notion of a world working like that is unimaginable to most people.

There are different kinds of morality. You can not throw your garbage over the fence and into your neighbors lawn because you're afraid of his reprisal, because of reprisal from the powers that be, out of simple respect for the law which recognizes his property, and out of empathy and respect for his time, effort and resources. But particularly in an area inbetween reason and the law, once you to transgress against the person next to you, they're forced to make their own judgement call. Their imperfect judgement might be killing you annoymously is a good risk. That the world, were it ideal, might be something else is immaterial.

Horror movies of course generally play upon this for entertainment. Don't invite evil into your life and it'll have a harder time catching you, though not for lack of trying. The real world is quite a bit more amoral obviously, but horror movies aren't about the random inequities of life, they're a reflection of the notions within the society that creates them. Turning a blind eye to those realities and behaving recklessly, well I guess it all depends on how lucky you feel. For my part I'm not so convinced of the charity of the person I might at any point find next to me that I'd antagonize them for my convience or entertainment. But that's me :)

We are still assuming that they trespassed, let alone on one of the three perpetrators lands. The article failed to mention any of these facts. Your argument seems to be that lack in faith in the law (I agree that the system is flawed) should be excuses enough for violent vigilances. If someone cuts me off in traffic, should I run him or her off the road? If they insult me should I have the right to attack them? They had time to get a rope, set a trap and lay in wait, they could have called the police or brought a camcorder and filed charges. If it was their property, they could put up a gate. But not attempt to harm or kill them.

And of course I cant read or think if I don’t agree with you.

There have been incidents where kids threw large rocks and bricks off bridges onto the Autobahn over here. Interestingly enough, the last incident I can remember was comitted by some military brats with the excuse "It's typically American to do this!"

Kids do that here in Canada too.

They put the roap across a PUBLIC ROADWAY ... this was not protecting their land this was revenge/asshatary
No it didn't it was on a Private road.

The incident took place on Loma Chiquita Road, a private road in the unincorporated hills above Los Gatos where motorcycle riding has caused conflict among residents, Palanov said.

Still was wrong though.

I saw a 15 YO Metalhead try and beat up a 15 YO guy and then thi Other Mentalhead wanted to join in.

I really should have cracked some skullz and stopped it.
sigh.

I'd like to see the "ass-holes" point of view first. They could have been harrassed by the motorcyclists beforehand.

I'd like to see the "ass-holes" point of view first. They could have been harrassed by the motorcyclists beforehand.

This happened 20 minutes from me.

Here (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/14638661.htm) is the better paper in the area on the subject.

One thing to take into account (I haven't finished reading the Mercs article) is that Los Gatos at the peak of the Santa Cruz mountians is sparse and only connected by these private roads. The lots are huge and don't really have markings or fences. The private road the riders where on led to their house.

EDIT: Screw it, the link requires registration but you can get the article by doing a google news search of the street name.

I'd like to see the "ass-holes" point of view first. They could have been harrassed by the motorcyclists beforehand.
And what if is was so? You are allowed to insidiously attack people with a potentially lethal weapon if they harrassed you? What kind of harrasment is sufficent for that to be justified? Someone calls me a name or touches me without my consent, am i ok with smashing his head into the pavement until its a bloody pulp?
Property should never be of the same importance as the wellbeing of humans.

Was it a harrasment issue? Doesn't seem so-from The Merc:
So Barnes and his family and neighbors are left to figure out what might have set Anderson and the others off. Was it the years of dirt-bike noise that finally got to his neighbors?

``They'd never said anything about us riding,'' Barnes said Saturday outside his ridge-top home, his lips swollen like purple grapes, lisping from a shattered palate. ``A lot of people up here ride; we're a family of dirt bikers. This is dirt-bike heaven; it's one of the reasons people move up here.''
So the first thing said was a rope to the mouth. Great...

Just a momentary aside, for the NSG fun of it, this is what it's like when Bush supporters have to settle differences:
Perhaps it's something they'd said? Barnes' wife, Wendy, thinks not: ``Don Bryant and I communicate all the time by e-mail, and he's always joking around, usually saying things like `Go Bush,' because we both like Bush. There was never any warning. We don't get it. Did they all just snap that day?''

Maybe one of them had oil.

This is probably a lot more about what inspired it, and gives you guys an idea about the nature of the road:
Barnes can't say for sure what might have inspired such a heinous act. But he has a hunch the bad blood may have started years ago, when he and Anderson got mixed up in a road-paving deal gone bad.

The two men's motives were honorable -- get the 150 or so residents in this unincorporated piece of Santa Clara County to pitch in and pay for the paving and improvement of the winding stretch of Loma Chiquita that serves as their umbilical cord to the rest of civilization..
Maybe the rope guys are just dicks?
One woman who lives in the area, and who didn't want her name used in this story, said neighbors have long had mixed feelings about Anderson. She said he was a wannabe mayor of the neighborhood, a big imposing guy who was also handy with a wrench and was considered the locals' mechanic, a sought-after trade up here at 2,800 feet elevation and miles from the nearest store.

``But now we know they're just bad apples,'' she said of the three arrested. ``Everyone is hoping they'll finally get kicked out of here.''

Looking for a reason
Neighbors wonder what would have led trio to allegedly string rope across road
By Patrick May
Mercury News

There's a lot of lonely and a little bit of loony to this zip code in the sky. High above Los Gatos off Summit Road, up where the fog loiters and the curves are all blind, hilltop folks with unlisted numbers and unmarked driveways jealously guard their 20 acres of peace and quiet.

Lately, though, the peace is strained and things are a little too quiet.

Springtime afternoons along Loma Chiquita Road would normally include the muffled din of dirt bikes that locals race along trails and unpaved roads. But ever since Bob Barnes nearly lost his head as he drove his bike past Ed Anderson's house down the road, the only racket comes from the restless junk-yard dog.

Barnes and some buddies were returning to his mountaintop home from an afternoon of dirt-biking when he was caught by something strung across the road near Anderson's gate.

Cops say it was a rope. Barnes says it felt more like a steel bar.

Several days and 500 stitches later, Barnes, 46, was released from the hospital, only to find his $8,000 orange KTM 300 MXC bike missing from his barn.

Police arrested Anderson, 48, his live-in girlfriend Donna Olsen, 46, and their neighbor Donald Byrant, 62, all booked on felony assault charges. Police said the three hid in the bushes as the biker was snared by their trap.

They're not talking -- none of the three returned phone calls Saturday -- and Anderson's front gate was locked up tight.

So Barnes and his family and neighbors are left to figure out what might have set Anderson and the others off. Was it the years of dirt-bike noise that finally got to his neighbors?

``They'd never said anything about us riding,'' Barnes said Saturday outside his ridge-top home, his lips swollen like purple grapes, lisping from a shattered palate. ``A lot of people up here ride; we're a family of dirt bikers. This is dirt-bike heaven; it's one of the reasons people move up here.''

Perhaps it's something they'd said? Barnes' wife, Wendy, thinks not: ``Don Bryant and I communicate all the time by e-mail, and he's always joking around, usually saying things like `Go Bush,' because we both like Bush. There was never any warning. We don't get it. Did they all just snap that day?''

Barnes can't say for sure what might have inspired such a heinous act. But he has a hunch the bad blood may have started years ago, when he and Anderson got mixed up in a road-paving deal gone bad.

The two men's motives were honorable -- get the 150 or so residents in this unincorporated piece of Santa Clara County to pitch in and pay for the paving and improvement of the winding stretch of Loma Chiquita that serves as their umbilical cord to the rest of civilization.

But things got messy. Some residents balked at paying. Expenses got out of control. Various sides made legal noises. Bad vibes took root. In late 2001, the road improvement project hit a dead end.

``They ran out of money and there was some lingering tension because of a civil matter over the funding of the road,'' said Scott Webster, 45, a land surveyor and a friend and neighbor of Barnes. ``Everybody got lawyers.''

The irony here is lost on neither Barnes nor Webster: The one thing that may now have neighbor fighting neighbor could turn out to be the one thing that, like it or not, keeps the Loma Chiquita Road community joined at the hip -- the road.

``There's always some controversy with the mountain folk with people riding on their roads,'' Santa Clara sheriff's deputy Sgt. Dean Baker told the Mercury News last week. ``They didn't like motorcycles going down their road, but what are they going to do?''

On the evening of May 6, as he returned home from his sundown ride, Barnes says he saw Bryant ``standing by the side of the road in front of Anderson's place, looking at me. Next thing I know, I see something clip me in the face. I fell off the bike, I think. I saw Donna. And I saw Ed running away.''

One woman who lives in the area, and who didn't want her name used in this story, said neighbors have long had mixed feelings about Anderson. She said he was a wannabe mayor of the neighborhood, a big imposing guy who was also handy with a wrench and was considered the locals' mechanic, a sought-after trade up here at 2,800 feet elevation and miles from the nearest store.

``But now we know they're just bad apples,'' she said of the three arrested. ``Everyone is hoping they'll finally get kicked out of here.''

But for now, things are simply quiet and tense. Barnes is in a justice-seeking mood. He's grouchy from the discomfort and the hassle of using a cane to get around. And he wants his stolen dirt bike back.

After all, out there on Loma Chiquita's dusty trails and hairpin turns full of a vultures' all-
Here is the article in full length, for study purposes. ;)

From yet another source, the rope people sound like fantastic folk:
Anderson and Bryant had complained about noise before, but Anderson's son rides a motorcycle and the two men "shoot guns all night," Towner said.

Barnes said his motorcycle was stolen from his pool house after his crash.

Court records show that Anderson and his girlfriend, Olsen, have had violent domestic disputes and drunk driving arrests. Anderson's license was suspended in 1999 for "excessive blood alcohol level," and he was later charged with misdemeanors, including driving with a revoked license and failing to stop at a red light, after being involved in a crash, court records show.

Olsen pleaded no contest to DUI and child endangerment charges in November after she was pulled over going 90 mph on Highway 85 at about 10:45 a.m. with two young children in her van, court records show. There were beer cans on the front seat and floorboard, and Olsen at one point said she had "earlier" drank a glass of "pink wine," according to the police report.

When faced with having her license suspended if she refused to submit to an alcohol test, Olsen told an officer: "Where I live, I don't need a license to drive," the police report said.

Olsen also pleaded no contest in November 1999 to misdemeanor spousal battery charges after allegedly jumping on top of Anderson in bed and hitting him, before injuring her ankle in the scuffle, according to court documents.

At the time, she was on probation for "narcotic-related" offenses, according to the police report.
Source (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/20/BAGPRIVDU41.DTL)

People will always do these sort of things, just because there's a lot of assholeness around. I myself don't like the whole dirt-biking-concept, and that's because I don't like the violence against nature of it. IMHO, the human race is a natural thingy too, so I don't like harming that part as well.:rolleyes:

Another source gives the funniest defense so far:
The rope that clotheslined a motorcyclist in the hills above Los Gatos, putting him into a temporary coma, was strung across the roadway for safety reasons, according to the attorney for one of the three people charged in the case. Donald Bryant, 62; Donna Olsen, 46; and Edward Anderson, 48, were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the May 6 incident that put their neighbor, motorcyclist Robert Barnes, in a coma for five days.


That's gonna be a hard sell...

source (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12876251/)

EDIT: From an earlier Merc article, there's still a little hippie in those hills-sort of, in that "Lookin' out for a brother" kind of weird way:
n an odd twist, Barnes has reported that his motorcycle was stolen soon after he was injured. A Santa Cruz cycle shop that heard about the theft on the news has offered to replace the high-performance dirt bike.

Wow, they're sooo sued. IMO, they should have been charged with attempted murder, because it was pre-meditated. Also, I hope that guy recovers completely and gets his dirt bike back.

Whether or not those kids were on the offender's property, stringing up a wire and pulling it taut when they ride by is completely unnacceptable.

Although there will probably be a lot less tresspassing charges filed with the DA for a long time if this is spread around....