Cyclist alleges motorcycle officer struck his bicycle during Critical Mass; OCC asked to investigate

A Tenderloin resident, Robin Albad Aqobilo, told the Police Commission he was verbally and physically attacked by a San Francisco motorcycle officer during a Critical Mass bicycle ride on Aug. 31, 2007, and asked the Office of Citizen Complaints to investigate.

Aqobilo said he stood in front of a vehicle to prevent it from entering moving bicycle traffic at Van Ness and Mission, and that a uniformed motorcycle officer approached, shouted profanities and twice struck the rear wheel of his bicycle with the front wheel of the motorcycle. He said three or four motorcycle officers then surrounded him, trapping him between the officers and a nearby SUV, after which an officer allegedly picked up his bicycle and threw it to the ground. Aqobilo said he recorded the officer’s helmet number, 210, and that he has submitted a written statement to the commission.

Because the complainant raised privacy concerns about naming the officer publicly, the meeting did not include the officer’s full name. The Office of Citizen Complaints’ interim director Jean Field told the commission she was present and said the OCC will take the written statement and follow up. “We will take those complaints in person…we investigate those complaints and the outcome of those investigations are used for several different purposes,” Field said in her earlier introduction of OCC duties.

What happens next: Commissioners asked OCC to follow up on the written complaint and report back on the outcome of the investigation.