mike honcho
Knuckleheads
FORT WORTH -- Five months ago, the Star-Telegram reported that a Fort Worth bicyclist made a smart-aleck remark to some officers he passed on the street.
"Did y’all read them their rights first?" Reid Sullivan, then 23, quipped, according to a police report, as he pedaled past some Fort Worth officers who had detained five people during a traffic stop in the 3900 block of White Settlement Road.
His ride-by remark that night in February didn’t garner laughs but did grab the attention of one of the officers, who noted that Sullivan’s bike didn’t have a headlight -- a violation of the Texas Transportation Code.
The officer ordered Sullivan to stop but he pedaled on, prompting another officer to turn on his patrol car’s lights and pursue him. The report alleged that Sullivan pedaled faster, hopped a curb and rode through driveways and yards before finally stopping, throwing down his bike and backpack and asking, "Why are y’all stopping me?"
He was arrested on evading arrest and unlawfully carrying a handgun after officers spotted the handle of a Glock pistol protruding from a mesh pocket of his backpack. Though Sullivan had a concealed-handgun license, police say the gun was not concealed.
On Thursday, Sullivan, now 24, updated the Star-Telegram on his plight.
In e-mail titled, "Things Going Slowly Uphill for Cyclist Arrested in Fort Worth," Sullivan says that although he no longer faces charges, he went through "a lengthy and expensive ordeal."
"Currently, I am out my Glock 26, defense fees, anger-management fees, and the two–year interruption to my graduate studies," he writes.
He added that he also has loads of debt after paying for year one of medical school, then being told he should "take some time off."
Tarrant County court records confirm that the misdemeanor charge of "unlawful carrying of a handgun" was dismissed in May and that, in the "interest of justice," the Glock was destroyed.
The evading arrest misdemeanor charge was reduced to disorderly conduct, for which Sullivan received two months’ deferred adjudication probation and a $242 fine. He successfully completed his probation this month, records show, and the case was dismissed.
Sullivan wrote that, although he knows his case brought chuckles, he believes that "it also raised some serious questions, adding to a long list of cruel and/or entirely unusual police encounters."
Lt. Paul Henderson, a Fort Worth police spokesman, said he hopes the case delivers a clear message "to anyone who makes the decision to heckle an officer while he is performing a very difficult job."
"If you’re going to swim with sharks, don’t carry bait," Henderson said
"Did y’all read them their rights first?" Reid Sullivan, then 23, quipped, according to a police report, as he pedaled past some Fort Worth officers who had detained five people during a traffic stop in the 3900 block of White Settlement Road.
His ride-by remark that night in February didn’t garner laughs but did grab the attention of one of the officers, who noted that Sullivan’s bike didn’t have a headlight -- a violation of the Texas Transportation Code.
The officer ordered Sullivan to stop but he pedaled on, prompting another officer to turn on his patrol car’s lights and pursue him. The report alleged that Sullivan pedaled faster, hopped a curb and rode through driveways and yards before finally stopping, throwing down his bike and backpack and asking, "Why are y’all stopping me?"
He was arrested on evading arrest and unlawfully carrying a handgun after officers spotted the handle of a Glock pistol protruding from a mesh pocket of his backpack. Though Sullivan had a concealed-handgun license, police say the gun was not concealed.
On Thursday, Sullivan, now 24, updated the Star-Telegram on his plight.
In e-mail titled, "Things Going Slowly Uphill for Cyclist Arrested in Fort Worth," Sullivan says that although he no longer faces charges, he went through "a lengthy and expensive ordeal."
"Currently, I am out my Glock 26, defense fees, anger-management fees, and the two–year interruption to my graduate studies," he writes.
He added that he also has loads of debt after paying for year one of medical school, then being told he should "take some time off."
Tarrant County court records confirm that the misdemeanor charge of "unlawful carrying of a handgun" was dismissed in May and that, in the "interest of justice," the Glock was destroyed.
The evading arrest misdemeanor charge was reduced to disorderly conduct, for which Sullivan received two months’ deferred adjudication probation and a $242 fine. He successfully completed his probation this month, records show, and the case was dismissed.
Sullivan wrote that, although he knows his case brought chuckles, he believes that "it also raised some serious questions, adding to a long list of cruel and/or entirely unusual police encounters."
Lt. Paul Henderson, a Fort Worth police spokesman, said he hopes the case delivers a clear message "to anyone who makes the decision to heckle an officer while he is performing a very difficult job."
"If you’re going to swim with sharks, don’t carry bait," Henderson said
