Florida Man Arrested For Cutting Electric Scooter Brakes (bbc.com) 87
A man in Florida has been arrested for cutting the brake lines on dozens of public scooters. The man has been identified by police as 59-year-old Randall Thomas Williams of Ford Lauderdale, though a possible motive has not yet been released. The BBC reports: According to Fort Lauderdale police, a surveillance operation was set up over the weekend after more than 140 scooters were vandalized. Randall Williams, 59, was captured on camera cutting brake lines over three days, police say. When Mr Williams was arrested on Sunday, he was found carrying two pairs of wire cutters and wearing one glove. He has been charged with criminal mischief as well as resisting arrest and "loitering or prowling."
"In the early morning hours on September 28, 2019... the defendant was observed walking around the neighborhood, hiding in the shadows, and utilizing the dark alleyways to conceal himself from public view," according to the police arrest report. It said he placed white stickers over the QR codes used by riders to activate the scooters. During his interrogation "the defendant failed to dispel officers' alarm as to why he was lurking in the shadows and using the alleyways behind closed business, which are not normal avenues of transport for law-abiding citizens," police said. The companies who owned the scooters have since removed the scooters in the vicinity to avoid rider injury.
"In the early morning hours on September 28, 2019... the defendant was observed walking around the neighborhood, hiding in the shadows, and utilizing the dark alleyways to conceal himself from public view," according to the police arrest report. It said he placed white stickers over the QR codes used by riders to activate the scooters. During his interrogation "the defendant failed to dispel officers' alarm as to why he was lurking in the shadows and using the alleyways behind closed business, which are not normal avenues of transport for law-abiding citizens," police said. The companies who owned the scooters have since removed the scooters in the vicinity to avoid rider injury.
After what he did (Score:5, Funny)
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yeeeeeaaaaaaahhh!!!
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*puts on sunglasses*
Quite necessary in Florida!
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just needs to kick some ass on day one and he will be fine
"Florida" man (Score:5, Funny)
I mean, if you had to bet....
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Additionally, several chad were observed hanging out of his pockets.
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I mean, if you had to bet....
Yes, for those who do not know, this was a popular internet meme* for a while.
FLORIDA MAN [wikipedia.org]
For Aussies, Florida is a bit like Darwin, but with 20 million people. Though since they do not believe in evolution, they would not have a town by that name.
* apologies to Richard Dawkins.
Good. In fact, fucking great (Score:5, Interesting)
But these assholes that cut brake lines and such? Attempted murder at least, more if someone actually got hurt.
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I knew someone in college who died from a subdural hematoma after slipping on a bar of soap in the shower. However, I agree that death is extremely unlikely from a fall at 15 mph. What is much more likely is traumatic brain injury.
Treating a traumatic brain injury can be as simple as a few weeks of rest and observation all the way up to lifetime of cognitive and emotional impairment. Extreme cases can require permanent institutionalization at a lifetime cost to society of millions of dollars.
If you go on
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There are companies making scooters that are capable of 50mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Conventional mopeds with 10-inch wheels are scary enough in a pothole. I defy anyone to stay on one of those scooters as 46MPH if you hit a decent pothole.
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I defy anyone to stay on one of those scooters as 46MPH if you hit a decent pothole.
Does it count if you manage to retain a grip on the handlebars?
But how would you tell their brain is injured? (Score:2)
I mean they rode an e-scooter... It cerainly wasn't well, before.
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However, I agree that death is extremely unlikely from a fall at 15 mph.
The bigger issue would be riding towards an intersection, trying to stop, then continuing to roll into the intersection while traffic is flying through it.
I guess you could jump off the scooter.... but then a car ends up damaged possibly.
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Or if they tried to use the breaks at hmm maybe an intersection where traffic going 45 miles an hour would be more likely to cause death.
Not just the rider (Score:2)
Also consider that other people may be injured by a scooter that can't brake. I know I wouldn't want 150lbs @15MPH coming at me while caught unawares.
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Don't stop at red light because brakes are cut. Get run over by truck. Why would the speed of the scooter matter?
The top speed, and average speed, of a pedestrian is well under that of a scooter. Yet pedestrians die in traffic. Obviously staying under 15 mph does not assure safety.
The fatality rates for pedestrians near traffic and bicyclists near traffic per hour of exposure are nearly the same. Because fatalities almost always involve a car or other large vehicle, and travelling at 3 mph vs 15 mph do
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So basically, a skateboard?
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It's fun 'til they can't stop before rolling onto a busy street and in front of a truck.
Not being able to stop in traffic is a disaster waiting to happen. Even if you're going slow. Yes, he could jump off the scooter to save himself, but you think people would do that?
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one greenie, two greenie, three greenie go around town, I cutz the brakes and they all fall down.
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How fast does one of these scooters go? Maybe 15mph? I don't think it's attempted murder, but maybe attempted America's Funniest Home Videos.
One of the troubles is that the fail mode for a scooter is to pivot forward on the front wheel and faceplant into the ground. On a bicycle, the fail mode is to lay it over more often. Hospitals are seeing a lot more head traumas from such accidents since people aren't wearing helmets (because they think they are only going 15mph).
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"...attempted America's Funniest Home Videos."
https://www.ranker.com/list/wo... [ranker.com]
Hilarious. A real knee-slapper.
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Well no, these things were dumped in public spaces not parked temporarily and honestly a scooter without brakes as no more dangerous than a scooter with brakes you sneaky liar. The centre of balance is all wrong, you hit a scooter brake hard enough to really slow you in an emergency and over you will go or very little braking, as back brake only. To slow down fast on a scooter there is only one way, jump off and try to hold onto the scooter whilst remaining upright. Simply glue the scooter in place, funny a
Re: Good. In fact, fucking great (Score:2)
Or you can just use a sharpie marker to draw doodles all over the QR code. Kind of hard for the company to bill anybody that uses it if those codes aren't readable.
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a scooter without brakes as no more dangerous than a scooter with brakes you sneaky liar
That's neither a lie nor sneaky, and if you can't tell the difference between a scooter with brakes and one without, I don't want to be near you when you drive.
The scooters weren't dumped either, just parked without due care and attention. Dumping implies it's not intended to be used again, which was not the case here.
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I don't like the assholes who leave these scooters everywhere.
Yeah, I feel the same way, and agree that it’s still wrong to vandalize the things - regardless of whether there’s a risk of human injury or not.
Now, I admit that creatively relocating them might get a smile out of me. I chuckle whenever I see the Lime bikes that regularly get stashed in the underground parking lot at UW.
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Rendering the QR Codes unreadable seemed a suitably proportionate response that, while no doubt illegal in itself, does not put people at risk.
I'm not sure why this idiot felt the need to also try and cause potentially lethal accidents.
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Attempted murder at least, more if someone actually got hurt.
No one is going to get charged with attempted murder for that! Probably some form of manslaughter if the breaks fail on the road leading to death.
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Yeah. If it's just for vandalism because he hates scooters he could have slashed tires and seats. It'd make the scooter need repair and no one would try to use it when it isn't safe, or at least flat tires are more obvious and you'd less likely to get up to speed before noticing somethings off.
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Good points. I don't know if tampering with safety systems is a serious crime in the US, but it should be. I once lived in a place uphill of a college, with a 30 degree slope downhill right out of my door, for 300 m, and a cliff edge at the end. If both brakes on my bike suddenly failed on that hill, no way would I come off with anything less than a serious injury while attempting to emergency-brake at 40 kph in a roadside bush.
I made an effort to try the brakes before each descent, but for sure forgot a fe
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I ride a bike, I check my brakes before every ride
So do I, but that didn't save me when when someone cut a brake line on my bike. I'm always using the rear brake, so I didn't notice the front brake had been cut as I rode off. Until I heard a clicking noise and looked down to see the brake pads just bouncing off the sides of the front wheel. I had enough time to form the thought, "Funny, they're not supposed to do th--" before my bike flipped end over end through the air like I was a stunt rider in a movie. I think I must have been pretty dazed when I got t
Basic grammar/geography (Score:2)
Re:Abandoned property? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Abandoned property? (Score:3, Informative)
Yes there is.
Go read the laws on found property.
Then go read the definition of asshole. The. Paste your picture next to it.
T
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Two Wongs don't make a Wright.
If Han Wong and Amy Wong have a baby "Mary" together that goes on to marry a George Wright- that child will be Mary Wright- so two Wongs would have made a Wright.
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Two Wongs don't make a Wright.
For that joke, you should only drop dead. ...
Two Wongs... yeuuck.
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Not quite as bad as those who actually look forward to someone invading their house, since then they get to shoot them more or less legally, but it's along those lines.
If you have issues with people leaving their property on sidewalks then there are official ways you can take. You don't need to resort to some kind of twisted vigilante justice.
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I believe that this is more akin to an attractive nuisance, but deliberately rigged to fail every time.
Like if you propped up a ladder and left it on the side of a building in public view all night. That's an attractive nuisance, and it's illegal in many places, to the best of my (IANAL) understanding. As a misdemeanor; e.g., where I live has Section 85Q.
Section 85Q. Any person who maintains an artificial condition upon his own land shall be liable for physical harm to children trespassing thereon if (a) the place where the condition exists is one upon which the land owner knows or has reason to know that children are likely to trespass, (b) the condition is one of which the land owner knows or has reason to know and which he realizes or should realize will involve an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to such children, (c) the children because of their youth do not discover the condition or realize the risk involved in intermeddling with it or in coming within the area made dangerous by it, (d) the utility to the land owner of maintaining the condition and the burden of eliminating the danger are slight as compared with the risk to children involved, and (e) the land owner fails to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or otherwise to protect the children.
Now, if you saw partway through the 5th rung off the ground, so a little weight would cause it to give, you'd have the scooter brake situation.
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How can it be illegal to vandalize abandoned property? If somebody leaves something on a sidewalk, is there a law that says that I just can't walk off with it, or damage it or destroy it?
wat
Are you new?
Re:Abandoned property? (Score:5, Insightful)
How can it be illegal to vandalize abandoned property?
Florida has no right of salvage on abandoned property. It belongs to the original owner until the state seizes it, and then it belongs to the state.
So, you're either vandalizing something that belongs to the original owner, or the state of Florida - either way, it's not ending well when you get caught.
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How can it be illegal to vandalize abandoned property?
Abandoned has a legal meaning. You can start by proving that these fit that definition.
Re: Abandoned property? (Score:2)
Uh, because you and they know not really abandoned. But especially because it is being done with maniacal intent of causing injury or death.
That's all? (Score:2)
He has been charged with criminal mischief as well as resisting arrest and "loitering or prowling."
That's all? No charges related to attempting to cause harm to riders? Fucking Florida.
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It's a felony.
(1)(a)A person commits the offense of criminal mischief if he or she willfully and maliciously injures or damages by any means any real or personal property belonging to another, including, but not limited to, the placement of graffiti thereon or other acts of vandalism thereto.
...
...
3.If the damage is $1,000 or greater, or if there is interruption or impairment of a business operation or public communication, transportation, supply of water, gas or power, or other public service which costs $1,000 or more in labor and supplies to restore, it is a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(5)(a)The amounts of value of damage to property owned by separate persons, if the property was damaged during one scheme or course of conduct, may be aggregated in determining the grade of the offense under this section.
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I would agree with you if he had been tampering with the brakes so that testing them show they work but when you put hard pressure on them they broke. that could lead to injury but with them broken at the start of the ride the user had warning.
Creating work for himself? (Score:1)
While in San Francisco, I saw a man get a knife out of his backpack and slash the tire of an Lyft bicycle. He was barely even trying to hide his actions.
As for motive, I can only speculate that he has signed up to "repair" the bicycles, and was creating work for himself. Or maybe he just has a grudge against Lyft?
Perhaps the scooter man was trying to create demand for scooter repairmen?
For people repairmen too? (Score:2)
Dr. Cutty van Knife here,
professional job creator.
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While in San Francisco, I saw a man get a knife out of his backpack and slash the tire of an Lyft bicycle. He was barely even trying to hide his actions.
As for motive, I can only speculate that he has signed up to "repair" the bicycles, and was creating work for himself. Or maybe he just has a grudge against Lyft?
Perhaps the scooter man was trying to create demand for scooter repairmen?
Well, at least they caught the rat.
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He was barely even trying to hide his actions.
San Francisco has essentially decriminalized crime so why would he bother hiding his actions? All he was risking was becoming a "justice involved person".
Interesting (Score:2)
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A guy in my neighborhood keeps peeing in the street. Should I post a slashdot story?
Sorry hcs, it's a bladder infection, I'll try to hold it in next time.
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If:
A) You live in Florida: No, because that pales in comparison the the guy at the end of your street eating pizza naked at a card table in the middle of the intersection.
B) You do not live in Florida: No, because nobody will notice it because they are looking for FloridaMan stories.
He was working on filming a new episode (Score:2)
He was simply working on filming a new episode of Impractical Jokers.
Attempted murder (Score:2)
Yeah, I know, nobody likes these fucking scooters littered around towns, count me in among the haters. But what this man did is attempted murder, and it could have affected people who usually park the scooters attentively.
Is natural selection murder? (Score:2)
If you throw enough stones at a tiger, he will leap a 12 foot wall, and rip your head off. (Precisely this happened.)
Do you think it is wise to blame the tiger? (Or even murder him?)
There is s point, where there is no excuse.
Granted, cutting the brakes is a pretty shit choice. On the plus side, it is so blatanty obvious with the lines not being attached and tense, so it will only affect the morons directly.
But e-scooters are a brutally retarded concept, from the same like of unreasoning as iWatches or those
WTF? (Score:2)
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Why would any vehicle that is designed to be ridden on the road need a mechanism that might help them prevent a collision with a 2 ton truck? It's just an absurd piece of technology, that's why I have brakes removed from all my cars as soon as I buy them and I expect my scooters to be sans brakes too!
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Florida Man (Score:2)
Ford or a Chevy? (Score:1)
Not to worry (Score:1)
Florida Man Arrested
Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from.
150 scooters in a 2 block radius? (Score:1)
If that was in my neighborhood, I'd be sick of it too.
*GASP* Physical brakes?!? (Score:2)
IMHO, the culprit is clearly a frustrated engineer trying to convince people that the scooters should have had regenerative braking.
The dark knight (Score:1)
He's the hero we deserve, but he is not the hero we need. So we'll hunt him, because he can take it.
A silent guardian, a watchful protector.
Ford? (Score:1)