[Ebbc-Talk] LASD Sheriff Strikes and Kills Cyclist in Bike Lane with Police Cruiser | Streetsblog Los Angeles

http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/12/09/lasd-sheriff-strikes-and-kills-cyclist=
-in-bike-lane-with-police-cruiser/

LASD Sheriff Strikes and Kills Cyclist in Bike Lane with Police Cruiser


Milton Olin Jr., from his LinkedIn account.

Milton Olin Jr., former chief operating officer of music-sharing site Napst=
er and Hollywood Attorney, died Sunday when his bicycle was struck by a She=
riff=92s Deputy=92s patrol car at the 22000 block of Mulholland Highway. LA=
SD confirms that Olin was in the bicycle lane at the time of the collision.

Both the driver and bicyclist were traveling east on Mulholland at the time=
 of the crash. The LASD Cruiser has a cracked windshield, suggesting that t=
he car hit Olin from behind at a high rate of speed. The LASD reports that =
the windshied was cracked when Olin=92s body was thown onto the Hood. Olin =
was pronounced dead at the scene.

At this point, the Sheriff=92s investigating the crash have not released th=
e name of the driver, who was on duty and not responding to an emergency ca=
ll at the time of the crash. The deputy was taken to the hospital for cuts =
and bruises. As one would expect when a cyclist is killed by unsafe driving=
, there have not been charges filed.

As a quick experiment, I ran a News Google search on =93Milton Olin.=94 As =
you would expect, dozens of stories detailing how he was killed by a Sherif=
f=92s deputy immediately filled my screen. I ran the same search but added =
the word =93suspect.=94


Surprise, surprise.

If there was no vehicle malfunction, and there is no report anywhere that a=
 malfunction is to blame, it seems odd that nobody in any news outlet or th=
e LASD itself would use the word =93suspect=94 when discussing the case. Se=
ntences such as =93the LASD has yet to identify the suspect=94 should be co=
mmon place. Is the wall of blue already closing around Olin=92s killer?

For a department besieged by charges of cronyism, a clear and transparent i=
nvestigation of the crash should be a requirement. Step one would be releas=
ing the name of the suspect and identifying him as such. Step two would be =
charing him or her with a crime.

Biking In L.A. reports that Milton Olin Jr. was a practicing attorney since=
 graduating from UCLA Law School in 1975, and worked as vice president of b=
usiness development for A&M Records =97 which was chiefly responsible for t=
he lawsuit that led to Napster=92s bankruptcy. He also served briefly as th=
e senior vice president for business development for Firstlook.com before j=
oining Napster.


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