Cyclist-shoving ex-NYPD cop convicted

By Daniel McMahon

The Times’ article, in full, reads:

Ex-Officer Guilty in Shove of Bicyclist

By JOHN ELIGON

A former police officer was convicted on Thursday of lying about a confrontation with a bicyclist who was participating in a Critical Mass bike rally in Times Square in 2008 — a collision that was videotaped and became a viral presence on the Internet.

The officer, Patrick Pogan, 24, who has since resigned from the Police Department, was found guilty of one count of offering a false instrument for filing; he was acquitted of assault.

The video appeared to show how Mr. Pogan deliberately body-checked the bicyclist, Christopher Long, as he tried to ride past. Mr. Long, 31, was initially charged with attempted assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but the charges were all dropped.

Mr. Pogan faces up to four years in prison when he is formally sentenced. The jury in State Supreme Court in Manhattan reached a verdict in its third day of deliberations.

At his trial, Mr. Pogan testified that Mr. Long initiated the confrontation because he did not comply with an order to stop, and then appeared to prepare to “use the force of the bicycle” against him.

Mr. Long also took the stand, and the bulk of the cross-examination focused on his background, which he admitted included frequent marijuana use (though he said he stopped smoking for the duration of the trial) and causing the death of a man in a traffic accident. There were no charges filed in the traffic accident.