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LAPD to Ride with Critical Mass Tonight, Cyclists Plan 'Bloody' Protest at Beverly Hills Courthouse
It's the last Friday of the month and that means hundreds of cyclists under the guise of Critical Mass will take to the streets tonight. The LAPD will join in, albeit with a smaller presence than the one made in June.
Today's ride, however, will make a special stop at the Beverly Hills Courthouse to announce a new campaign. Following a sentence handed down to a hit and run driver that left a cyclist in the hospital for 49 days, Bikeside LA will announce "Life before License."
“This sentence is symbolic of the lack of respect cyclists get throughout the justice system,” said Bikeside LA President Alex Thompson. He says Celine Mahdavi pleaded “no contest” to felony hit and run charges and threw herself on the mercy of the court, instead of accepting the plea deal offered by the D.A. Judge Elden S. Fox gave her 90 days of community service, and 3 years of probation.
On December 1st, Mahdavi hit cyclist Louis Deliz in West Hollywood at La Cienega and Holloway. Mahdavi, 18 at the time, was pulled over by law enforcement and allegedly had been drinking.
Thompson's group believes Mahdavi's sentence was extremely light and wants to see state legislation that will address how hit and runs are treated in court.
On Tuesday evening, a group of cyclists protested outside the Beverly Hills Courthouse and plan another one tonight at 8:15 p.m. This one, with hundreds of cyclists from Critical Mass in tow, is expected to be much larger.
Critical Mass, a large monthly bicycle ride, meets the last Friday of every month at 7:30 p.m., starting above ground at the Metro Wilshire and Western stop.
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