Most bullies are cowards at heart; 24 year old Bryce Barker (Left.) fits the stereotype exactly.
Last July three cyclists were enjoying a Sunday ride near Berthoud, Colorado; one of the cyclists was celebrating his 65th birthday with a 65 mile ride.
Barker pulled alongside the cyclists and honked and yelled at them, one of the cyclists admitted giving Barker the one finger salute.
Barker then stopped his truck and when the cyclists tried to ride by, he threatened them with an aluminum baseball bat. Joseph Stevens held his bike between himself and the bat wielding Barker.
When Barker struck the bike, Stevens dropped it and stepped back; where-upon Barker proceeded to destroy the carbon fiber bike.
Now this is why I say Bryce Barker is a coward. When he is later arrested, which is what usually happens to thugs who use baseball bats to threaten people and destroy property, he tells a totally different story.
His version; as he drove past the cyclists, (Get this.) one of them threw his bike at the truck hitting it on the side. He stopped to see if the cyclist was okay, and he was surrounded by the three cyclists.
He feared for his life, and that’s when he took the baseball bat to defend himself. But he attacked a bicycle; was he defending himself against an inanimate object?
Maybe Barker watched too much “Transformers” as a kid; he must have imagined the carbon fiber bike would transform into the Trek monster and would eat him. That could have been why he beat the crap out of Joe’s bike.
Yesterday, (February 4th 2011.) the 24-year-old Berthoud man hyper-ventilated and was unsteady on his feet as the verdict came in late Friday. After nearly eight hours of deliberation in 8th Judicial District Court, Bryce Barker was found guilty of felony menacing and misdemeanor criminal mischief.
The maximum penalty for the felony is three years in prison, but prosecutors said they expect Barker to face probation instead of incarceration. He will be sentenced April 26.
Many of you will think probation is too light, but in this case none of the cyclists were physically injured. Bryce Barker now has a felony conviction on his record that will follow him for the rest of his life. He will have to mend his ways or face serious consequences in the future. He will have to be particularly careful when driving around cyclists.
The good thing is this young thug was brought to trial, and the publicity the case has generated will I hope act as a deterrent to other potential cyclist bullying, bat wielding cowards
Source: http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2011/3/5/bryce-barker-guilty.html
Lucille P. Henderson Merlin M. Scott Heather B. Widmer Brandy R. Fowlkes
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