I don't think its entirely unreasonable that he got extremely emotional/pissed off after witnessing her daughter's face skinned off. It might have been an accident, but the article did state that the father came out AFTER the incident was already done, so he might not have been able to tell if it was an accident. The cousin of the girl was an idiot though and it was probably his fault that the situation was escalated like this.
I think he was jumping off the bike to try to avoid her. The moral of the story is don't be driving through the hood especially at night.
Getting pissed is normal, and anyone would want to start kicking ass. But the father must be one ignorant SOB to start fighting instead of tending to his little girl.
Sadly this story is going to spin into two extremes. Pro-cop: Cop was innocently riding his motorcycle down the street running his daily patrol route when a girl and her cousin recklessly jaywalked in front of him. The cop heroically attempted jumped off his bike to avoid hitting the girl but it was too late. Then, ignoring all diplomatic interaction by the cop, the cousin and the father savagely beat the poor cop to near death. The cop attempted to fire off a warning shot, but due to his dizzied nature he shot the father in the groin and killed him. Anti-cop: Reckless cop was speeding in the neighborhood and ran over girl on purpose, as the cop tried to run the heroic father jumped on the cop and attempted to wrestle him to the ground until other authorities arrived. Unbeknownst to him the cop had a gun and fatally shot the father. Exaggerating, obviously.
you're probably right, but i think the OP struck the right note. it's just sad all round. i understand the father's rage & the cop's right to defense. just sad.
You don't have to go to that extreme. The article states: The cousin was arrested, as he should be. Obviously this is just an article, so might not have the full facts, but I think people can read a little closer. For example, Clearly the police report may be wrong. Maybe the officer is a moron and had plenty of time to stop. But that's not what is being presented at the moment. Or, how about: Again, perhaps this is an over-exaggeration on the part of Pat Camden, but if not, that's a serious beating. To those saying that it's perfectly reasonable to fly into a rage and beat another man unconscious... um, no, it's not.
I guess I'll be the one who says that I don't understand him flying into a rage and trying to beat a guy for what happened to his daughter. Accidents happen and they suck and I get mad just like anyone else, but if your reaction to an accident is to try to beat someone to death then you have a problem.
From the article it sounds like the father didn't witness the accident, he just saw his girl on the ground, in the aftermath of getting struck by a motorcycle and the cop off to the side staring (in shock?). In this case the cousin should be the one to restrain the father and pursue a more diplomatic course... but the cousin jumped in and started pummeling. The idiot cousin is to blame.
It is easy to say you are right. If you reaction to bad things happening that weren't done on purpose is to violently assault someone then you flat out have a problem. Being angry is fine. I would be angry and wouldn't want the guy coming over trying to apologize or anything, but to start violently assaulting him? That's ridiculous behavior. I wonder if this guy has a past history of violence.
So you walk out and see your daughter on the ground hurt and another guy on the ground hurt. Instead of trying to figure out what happened you want to beat the guy to death? Again, a problem. But yes, the cousin is also an idiot.
Accident, or not. Most fathers will attempt to kill someone that hurts their daughter. Don't know if it's human nature, but it is what it is. It's easy to say otherwise when you're not IN the situation, but no one's thinking rationally when you come out and see you daughter in this condition.
Its a spur of the moment situation. Honestly the emotional trauma of seeing his girl with her face skinned off might be completely unnerving to the average father... Could be a coping mechanism for all the pent up rage, confusion, and shock he might have been experiencing at the time.
I would have done the same thing. Nothing upsets or enrages you more than when you see your daughter get hurt
Sad.... But..... Unless the cop purposely hit the girl or started the altercation with the father I see no reason why the father would start violence.
