Cyclist Hurt in Bike Trail Booby Trap
Carlene Ostedgaard had just finished her serving shift at a brewpub in southwest Portland, Oregon, last week and was midway through her bike commute home. It was late as she pedaled down the city’s Interstate 205 Multi-Use Path, a popular bike and pedestrian trail running next to a major highway, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary-at least, not at first.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Ostedgaard spied activity alongside the trail. She watched as three men scampered up an embankment and perched on a retaining wall. A split-second later, she felt the first bit of string pull into her skin. She was heading downhill fast, and there was no way for her to quickly stop her Mercier Galaxy.
“My first thought was, ‘Please don’t let this be fishing line,’” Ostedgaard recalled. She’d heard horror stories about booby-trapped bike trails before, of riders nearly decapitated by taut nylon wire. The stories freaked her out enough that she made a mental plan in case it ever happened to her: She put her head down and let her Lazer helmet take the brunt of the impact. She broke through several layers of string-the type of thick, glazed twine you can buy at a hobby store-and pedaled another 300 feet or so to safety.
After calling her partner, Ostedgaard phoned the police, who arrived about 10 minutes later. To everyone’s surprise, the three alleged perpetrators-Antonio R. Tolman-Duran, 27; Justin J. Jones, 23; and Dakota E. Murphy, 21-were still sitting in the same exact spot. Police quickly arrested the trio, who were preliminarily charged with assault and reckless endangering, and later released pending their hearing in court.
Sgt. Christopher Burley of the Portland Police Department refused to speculate on a motive when asked, and so far no reasons for the assault have been given by any of the three suspects.
“The police told me they were pretty inebriated,” Ostedgaard said.
Had she not kept her wits about her, Ostedgaard could have been seriously injured. Emergency personnel gave her a quick examination at the scene, but she refused further treatment. She said her eyes bothered her after being struck by the twine, but that she was able to flush out the irritants on her own. Photos taken not long after the attack show welts around her face and neck, where the string dug into her flesh. Four days later, the marks remained when she went back to work.
“I could tell some customers were curious, but they didn’t want to say anything,” Ostedgaard said.
Last week’s attack is nothing new. In fact, it was only the latest in a series of incidents across the country where people have set booby traps on bike trails. Although there’s no known database for these kinds of attacks, one can find dozens of anecdotal stories in news reports across the country.
According to the blog Bike Portland, at least three similar incidents have occurred locally within the last eight years, including one in 2014 where a trail user found a trip wire attached to an improvised explosive device. (It was later deactivated by a bomb squad). In Indianapolis last month, greenway users found metal wire strung across the trail at about neck height.
Six years ago in Littleton, Colorado, a cyclist struck a strand of barbed wire about a foot off the ground along the Mary Carter Greenway Trail, sending her flying over her handlebar. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but her bike took major damage.
“Bike booby traps have been around for 30 years or more,” said Tim Blumenthal, president of the national advocacy group People for Bikes. “Some people completely overreact to bike riders and bike riding.” He said the most common cases involve tacks sprinkled on the trail or nails pointing up through wood strips that are partially buried in cyclists’ paths.
“In a crowded and sometimes contentious world, I don’t know what can be done to counter this, except to find, arrest, and prosecute the people who place these devices,” he said.
Ohio-based cycling attorney Steve Magas said that because most of the booby traps are placed away from high-traffic areas-and away from security cameras and camera phones-it’s rare for perpetrators to be caught.
“Unlike a road-rage case where someone suddenly blows their stack and takes it out on a more vulnerable road user, these booby-trap incidents are insidious, pre-planned attempts at maiming or killing unsuspecting users,” Magas said. “My hope would be that in this age of cameras everywhere we’d see more folks caught, but the bad guys seem to focus on off-road stuff.”
Because these are premeditated attacks, according to Blumenthal, judges typically take these cases seriously and apply real penalties where guilt is proven. “It’s usually more than a slap on the wrist, but less than what we’d like, given the horrific, potential outcomes,” he said.
For her part, Ostedgaard said she wants to confront the three accused saboteurs face to face when they have their day in court.
“I want them to look me in the eye and recognize my humanity,” she said. “Maybe they see other people as just objects, but I want them to realize we’re all human beings.”
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