Hit by car, do I have options?

[johnkol]

I know you would like to find the people who did this to you. And at this time I think you shouldn’t give up. But at some point you will have to give up your search and move on. And that is something that only you can do.

I know, but it's difficult to do this now when I'm trying to recuperate. Yesterday I attempted to exercise for the first time by walking/jogging, and the second I tried to jog I immediately got a headache and felt like my brain was bouncing around my skull. Doctor said that this is due to the concussion I suffered, and because such brain bruises do not show up in CT Scans (or even MRIs), trial and error is the only way to evaluate its severity: light ones could disappear in a couple of weeks, more severe ones could take months.

The Tuesday following the accident I was to ride my CBR to Ohio to visit a friend. I had meticulously planned the route, downloaded it to my GPS, prepped the bike, booked the hotels... I was ready to go! Needless to say, I had to cancel everything, and now every day I look at my bikes not knowing when I'll be able to ride them again.

 

[johnkol]

Generally we decide internally what stuff we're putting out to the public, but maybe a call to the shift sergeant, watch commander, or the agency public information officer and suggesting your case for a press release could get the ball rolling.

Thanks for the tip!

There is a Public Information Office contact page at the Fremont PD website, where they list email and phone number. Is one preferable over the other, or would it be better if I went there in person?

I presume I would have to get the Case Number before I were to contact them?

 

[easy wind]

The full story of what happened to you sounds like it will happen again to someone. You were lucky to survive thanx to your helmet(hang it somewhere to be thankful on the daily).
Surely you know some kidz theez daze with social media aptitude. Do a short (2 min) vid story like a journalist would with pics/vid and specifics like xrays you can get on disc. Keep it civil but passionate about the general menace. Have them disseminate it online.
Very grateful to the in-house leo here who has his heart in play. GO IN and ask the local constabulary if you can send that vid to them and maybe they can post it on their pages. That could save the next victim even if it doesn’t help your case.

 

[bojangle]

Thanks for the tip!

There is a Public Information Office contact page at the Fremont PD website, where they list email and phone number. Is one preferable over the other, or would it be better if I went there in person?

I presume I would have to get the Case Number before I were to contact them?

If they have contact info available on the web site, that sounds like a good route to go. A case number helps, but they can find it without one.

I'd probably by inclined to email a summary of the incident including the date, time, and your name and contact info. Tell the Public Information Officer you were randomly attacked, there are no leads, you're concerned about this happening to others, and you'd like to seek justice. Then ask if they'd be willing to put out a press release on your case. They will be able to locate your case without the number if they have your name, contact info, and date/time of occurrence.

I'd think this would make for a good press release, so I think they would probably do it.

 

[johnkol]

I'd probably by inclined to email a summary of the incident including the date, time, and your name and contact info. Tell the Public Information Officer you were randomly attacked, there are no leads, you're concerned about this happening to others, and you'd like to seek justice. Then ask if they'd be willing to put out a press release on your case.

Got the Case Number, and sent an email to the Public Information Officer at the Fremont PD with all the pertinent information and asked whether they would be willing to put out a press release.

Their reply was very thoughtful, supportive, empathetic, but they essentially said that they would wait until a similar incident occurs before they consider alerting the community.

I followed up asking whether they would at least consider fixing the ALPR camera outside their PD, but have not received an answer on this, maybe because it's not within their purview?

 

[bojangle]

Got the Case Number, and sent an email to the Public Information Officer at the Fremont PD with all the pertinent information and asked whether they would be willing to put out a press release.

Their reply was very thoughtful, supportive, empathetic, but they essentially said that they would wait until a similar incident occurs before they consider alerting the community.

I followed up asking whether they would at least consider fixing the ALPR camera outside their PD, but have not received an answer on this, maybe because it's not within their purview?

I get the angle of alerting the public if there were more than one of these cases. In that case, it would cause quite a stir if multiple bicyclists were attacked at random.

But it's too bad the won't put out a press release just on your case. Yours may be just a one off random attack, but a press release can still be useful, and request any witnesses to come forward. The sooner after the cr8me the better.

Oh well, you could always try the local media directly, or make posts to your local fb and next door apps if you wanted to. Or just move on. Shit happens and many crimes are never solved, especially when it comes to random ones where there's no connection between the suspect and victim.

 

[augustiron]

I'm a bit confused on the purpose of the press release.

Is it to warn the general public who see it that basically "this crazy thing happened, and it could happen to you! If on a bicycle, be on the lookout for flying bags of ??? Launched from passing cars at your wheels"

?

 

[bojangle]

I'm a bit confused on the purpose of the press release.

Is it to warn the general public who see it that basically "this crazy thing happened, and it could happen to you! If on a bicycle, be on the lookout for flying bags of ??? Launched from passing cars at your wheels"

?

If it was a recurring thing then yeah. But I suggested it more as a way to try and see if there were any witnesses who might come forward. Even better if that potential witness caught it on a dash camera. But the more time that passes, the less likely that will be the case, and it probably wouldn't have had very high chances for success in the first place.

But from my experience, every once in a while, we do get a case solved from witness info as a result of a press release.

 

[johnkol]

Oh well, you could always try the local media directly, or make posts to your local fb and next door apps if you wanted to. Or just move on. Shit happens and many crimes are never solved, especially when it comes to random ones where there's no connection between the suspect and victim.

I thought about doing something along those lines, but the main problem is that the case is not that flashy at all: there is no video of the incident, no real eye witnesses, and no other corroborating evidence. Moreover, there are no visible injuries, no broken bones, and even the CT scans are clear; the concussion and nerve damage don't show anywhere apart from me experiencing them, so the case doesn't really lend itself to some healthy hype. As you say, there are so many other serious crimes with real injuries to victims, that the vast majority of people will simply pass this story by (and I wouldn't blame them for it).