This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
On Saturday, March 9, Mayor Brian Bagley was involved in an accident involving bicyclist, Edward Kneipher.
Kneipher was riding his bicycle southbound in the west alleyway on Main Street and made a left-hand turn to head east on 3rd Avenue.
At the same time, Bagley was making a u-turn in the area of the alleyway. The front passenger's side of Bagley's Jeep collided with the rear of the bicycle. The collision caused the bicycle to be pushed eight feet causing minor injuries to Kneipher.
U-turns are permissible in the area where the incident happened.
According to an email sent from Officer Tyler Bartlett to Boulder County Deputy District Attorney Brad Turner, on March 13,
Longmont Police Department (LPD) stated that:
"Our interpretation is that this appears to be an accident, and
fault lies with both parties. It appears Bagley made the u-turn, and at some point of making the u-turn, the bicyclist rides behind him. We think Bagley’s view of the bike may have been blocked by one of the vehicle pillars, but can’t be certain. Neither party reports seeing each other or knowing where each other was coming from.Bagley has an obligation to make a u-turn only if safe to do so, and Kneipher has an obligation to only make his left turn when he’s yielded ROW and safe to do so. We have gone back and forth on this as it seems this crash may not have been preventable, and we can’t prove either party saw the other prior to collision."
Email to Boulder County Deputy District Attorneys Bradly Turner and Chief Trial Deputy District Attorney Adam Kendall from LPD Officer Tyler Bartlett on March 13, 2019 at 3:56 p.m.
On the day of the incident, the Longmont Police Department (LPD) notes that the weather was clear, that it happened in the daylight, and that no other environmental factors were at play.
Police Sergeant Eric Lewis was notified by the officers who responded to the incident. He made a
During their investigation, LPD canvased the area looking for videos to "collaborate either person's version of the events," states Lewis. He continues to say that their search was unsuccessful and an additional search was conducted the next day for video of the alley. "Unfortunately, we were unable to find anything."
"What we concluded is that it appears that both Bagley and the bicyclist's actions contributed to the crash. Obviously, one or both of them did something wrong or they wouldn't have crashed into each other. The problem that we had was determining what the approximate cause of that is or the probable cause to charge that right.
In order to show probable cause, we would need to show that Bagley did an unsafe
u-turn . It wouldn't be an illegal u-turn because it is not prohibited from u-turns in that area. But he has to do a u-turn in a safemanor with respect to other traffic in the area.The bicyclist, with the information we had, was in the alley before he enters a roadway from the alley, he has to yield to the right-of-way of any other vehicles on that roadway.
We don't know where Bagley was when the bicyclist entered the roadway and whether or not he failed to yield the right-of-way to Bagley who had already made a legal
Phone interview with Police Sergeant Eric Lewis and the Longmont Observeru-turn . Because neither one of them saw each other before the crash occurred, we can't put them in any particular place therefore, we are saying both of them contributed to the crash but we didn't have enough information to putprobable cause on either one of them," explains Lewis.
Sergeant Lewis later determined that if charges were to be brought against Bagley they would not be brought into Longmont Municipal Court due to the potential conflict of interest. Charges would have to be addressed by Boulder County Court.
LPD notified the Boulder County District Attorney's office concerning the case and let them know that Mayor Brian Bagley was involved. LPD wanted the DA to make a determination if indeed neither party should be charged.
Turner replied back via email on March 15 that he had, "just staffed this case with all the County Court DAs—without mentioning the name of the truck driver. The unanimous opinion was to not charge either party. We believe that it would be too difficult to prove who, if anyone, is at fault."
The County Court DAs referred to is a committee of typically seven DAs that meet each Friday to discuss cases. According to Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, this case was brought before a committee of seven attorneys and a DA Investigator for the case review. During this review, the committee was not given identifying information on either participant.
"In any criminal investigation we have to determine whether the elements of the crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. So we evaluate all of the evidence in the case with an eye toward what charges could be filed and whether they could be proven in court. We do this in every single criminal case, whether it be a traffic case or a homicide. We have a legal and ethical obligation to file and pursue cases where we believe the evidence supports charges that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," says Dougherty.
Phone interview with Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty and the Longmont Observer
The group unanimously decided that LPD had made the right choice to not charge either party in this situation because fault could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt for either party.
"They [the DA committee] went through the evidence, the circumstances, statements from both Bagley and
If a Longmont resident is involved in a vehicle collision with a bicyclist, the case seldom gets referred to the District Attorney's office. When Officer Bartlett contacted his commanding officer, Police Sergeant Lewis, Lewis decided that it might be best to bring the case to the DA due to Bagley's involvement.
Dougherty also told the Longmont Observer that he felt that LPD did the right thing in bringing this case to the DA's attention. The case has been reviewed at three different levels and the decision has been the same each time.
"I want to stress that no one who commits a crime is above the law. We all know the damage that public corruption or criminal conduct by public officials can cause to the community’s trust in government. My office will actively investigate and prosecute any cases involving criminal conduct by public officials – including members of law enforcement, the judicial branch, elected officials, and members of city and county agencies. As in every prosecutor’s office, we have safeguards in place to ensure that all cases are treated in a fair and consistent manner. In every case, our mission is to do justice. That is especially important in cases involving public officials because of the public trust placed in the justice system. For that reason, extra steps were taken to confirm that the decision by Longmont PD was the right one," states Dougherty in an email to the Longmont Observer.
Email from Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty to the Longmont Observer
According to Lewis, "We try to do a comprehensive investigation on everything that we have, regardless of who is involved. We take an objective look at every case that we get and try and make the best reasonable conclusion based on the totality of the circumstances and the evidence that is presented to us."
While neither Bagley nor Kneipher
Bagley had license plates that expired in October 2018. "We have contacted the Mayor to make arrangements to receive his ticket for that," states Lewis.
While being treated for his injuries, "a paramedic was treating Kneipher and removed his shoes and socks. A bag with suspected
Additionally, LPD discovered a warrent for Kneipher.
Kneipher was taken to the hospital for his injuries in the accident. After being cleared medically, he was arrested for his outstanding warrant and for being in procession of illegal narcotics.
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