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Indybay Feature

Vandeman arrested for assaults on mountain bike riders in Berkeley Hills

by H. Chapot
The person attacking mountain bikers in the Berkeley Hills has been arrested by UC police. Environmentalist and anti-MTB writer Michael Vandeman
Assault with a Deadly Weapon (Suspect Arrested)
UCPD crime report # 10-02127
East-West Fire Trail June 1, 2010

On Friday, May 28, 2010 UCPD received a report of an assault with a deadly weapon which had occurred around 6 weeks earlier. The assault occurred on a Sunday on the East-West Fire Trail located in the hills above campus. The victims, two non-affiliated White males, reported the crime after hearing of similar incidents occurring to bicyclists on the fire trail. The victims were riding their bicycles westbound on the trail when they encountered the suspect walking in the opposite direction. The suspect was holding a handsaw and cut one of the victims across the chest with the saw. The victims asked the suspect why he had attacked them. He told them they should not be riding their bicycles on the trail. The victims positively identified the suspect from a photograph. UCPD contacted the suspect who admitted to holding a saw in front of some bicyclists on a trail and contacting one of them with the saw. The suspect was subsequently taken into custody. One of the victims suffered minor injuries during the assault. Additional charges may be filed from similar incidences on the fire trail including one reported in a crime alert on May 6, 2010.

The suspect is described as:

VANDEMAN, Michael J., a White non-affiliated male, 67 years of age.

If you have any information about this crime, please contact:
University of California Police Department
Criminal Investigation Bureau
(510) 642-0472 / 8AM-5PM
(510) 642-6760 / All other times

As with any emergency situation, if you see suspicious activity, call 9-1-1.
From a cell phone, call 642-3333.
by --
Which trail is that? Is it the major fire road that starts in Strawberry creek below the botanical garden? The rules are so cryptic there. This pathway is the only route to the top of the neighborhood a little bit to the south. Also - it's not singletrack. It's a full wide lane.

The saw is over the top - someone in control of their mental faculties would do something passive aggressive like forcing the bike off the trail by jumping in the way, or popping their tire. Using a dangerous weapon will result in quick retaliation.
by seriously
doesn't seem very "indybay" to me to post cop hotlines etc
by h. chapot
This guy sells himself as an anti-mountain bike activist, is an extreme troll on mountain biking fora, he's been trashing people involved with bike advocacy for at least seven years, travels to conferences to abuse bike advocates.
Now he is under arrest for assaulting mountain bikers. There are no other news reports on this arrest but it is important to the bike community to know they got the asshole who is alleged to be the perpetrator.

Sometimes cop reports are newsworthy.
by Real Environmentalist
You should not be describing MJV as an "environmentalist." It's very misleading. He has been kicked out of every environmental group he's tried to be a part of, after which he has then made a point of harrassing real environmentalists.
by Jym Dyer

=v= I'm not making any assumptions one way or another (it's innocent until proven guilty, after all), but I do need to point out that "environmentalist" is a misleading label for this guy. As suggested in the previous comment, the label seems to have dribbled out from Usenet, where anti-environmental flamers have latched onto Mike Vandeman to prop up their own personal dramas around the movement.

Dr. Vandeman has systematically alienated anyone and everyone who might conceivably work with him, up to and including making threats to the families and livelihoods of environmental activists.

Environmentalist Michael J. Vandeman smeared by special interests. Protect habitat for countless individuals of other species.

Wildlife Need Habitat Off-Limits To Humans!
Michael J. Vandeman, Ph.D.

Articles and letters:
http://www.imaja.com/as/environment/mvarticles/index.html
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/

May all individuals of all species live happily in their natural habitat without intrusion and disruption. Humans must end their destructive anthropocentric activities.
by Terri
This story is very suspect. Mike is one of the most gentle humans on the planet. It is true, however, that he has been threatened for years by mountain bikers, including getting death threats. I don't know if he was carrying a saw or why but I will guarantee you that saws are routinely carried by mountain bikers to build illegal trails all around the SF Bay Area.
by Terri
Mountain bikers hate Mike Vandeman because he is effective. The worst they can say about him is that they hate what he writes. The bottom line is that those who oppose mountain biking in sensitive areas cost the mountain bike industry a lot of money. Gary Fisher told me that himself. I'm sure the court process will show that Mike is innocent of any crime. Intimidation will never stifle free speech, as much as the mountain bikers try.
"Terri" said something about mountainbikers never silencing free speech. What? The bike haters are the ones trying to use the power of the government to impose on people. And when they get tuired of trying to hijack land use policy for their radical ends, they take up weapons against the public, like this guy.

Is she seriously suggesting that, like, hitting someone with a saw is free speech?

What Vanderman did was not "speech", but rather force the rider to stop. The initiation of force, however, is a crime -- in this case the question is is it assault or also some kind of unlawful detainment? From what I heard the courts let him off with a wristslap again for the attack But it wasn't the first! Last time, he threatened bikers with an ice pick and blamed them. Now, he tries to corral them with a tree saw. How many of these incidents have to happen before it becomes obvious he's the cause? A saw, an ice pick... this guy is dangerous!

I mean, if he really had a problem with someone riding where they shouldn't be, he should have filed a report, not attacked them with a saw...
Maybe next time he'll up the ante and come after someone with an axe! This guy keeps getting off with slaps on the wrist. Sooner or later someone is going to get really hurt becuse of his anti-bike zealotry.

Oh, and not for nothing, but maybe the biker didn't stop because he saw a wild eyed maniac waving a saw at him and shouting "stop"! Under the circumstances most people would speed up.
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