Cyclist Tracks Down His Hit-And-Run Driver
I love this guy. In the mode of my tracking down my stolen pink Rambler (which you can read about in full in I See Rude People), cyclist Don Ward tracked down his hit-and-run driver and had him prosecuted. Like me, he had his naivete about what the cops will do for you rapidly removed:
He was stunned at the disinterest the LAPD investigator showed.
Hillel Aron tells the whole story in the LA Weekly. An excerpt:
The mowing down of Don Ward wasn't even a blip in a city where authorities have lost whatever grip they once may have had. But the public is getting angry: Ward's post in 2009 on the Midnight Ridazz message board generated hundreds of responses, including one from DJ Wheels -- lawyer Danny Jimenez.Jimenez had a friend in the California Highway Patrol who took five minutes, not LAPD's two weeks, to "run down the plate." Of four possible matches, one was a Jaguar registered to Glenn Gritzner, who lived near Silver Lake Reservoir, about two miles from the Echo Park crime scene.
Ward and Jimenez Googled "Glenn Gritzner" and found a blog site where he reviews bars in downtown L.A. The logo: a martini glass. Then their Internet search turned up something shocking: Gritzner wasn't an illegal immigrant fearing deportation, or a laid-off worker without insurance. He's a well-to-do, high-flying lobbyist and political player in City Hall and Sacramento, a managing director of Mercury Public Affairs, a powerful firm whose top partners include former California Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Adam Mendehlson, former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mercury is paid by corporate and union biggies to influence California's politicians; its past clients include Wal-Mart, Blue Shield, even the City of Los Angeles.
"We were almost 100 percent sure this was the guy," Ward recalls. "We were operating on the premise that the cops were gonna do nothing. We had to get evidence."
They visited trendy downtown bars, including the Edison and the Standard, hoping somebody had seen Gritzner getting hammered. Nothing. They drove by his house. No gray Jaguar.
They finally deduced that a man as successful and connected as Gritzner probably would take his Jag in to repair the damage.
The first place they called was Rusnak, a Jaguar dealer in Pasadena.
"Yeah, I wanna see if my Jaguar's gonna be ready," Ward said.
"What's your name?"
"Glenn Gritzner."
"Oh yeah, your car's gonna be ready Thursday."
Ward was tingling. He and Jimenez rushed to Pasadena and found the Jaguar getting a new coat of paint. Its hood and grille had already been replaced.
I don't understand the minor charges. It is a felony to hit and run everywhere. I would think leaving a body in the road would warrant some more attention.
Melissa at December 20, 2012 7:02 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/12/cyclist-tracks.html#comment-3524665">comment from MelissaI'm with you, Melissa.
Amy Alkon
at December 20, 2012 8:34 AM
Gritzner is connected. He knows people, and maybe even were the figurative bodies are buried. If the DA's office doesn't owe him a favor, they probably owe one to one of his buddies.
I R A Darth Aggie at December 20, 2012 9:17 AM
Good for him for finding the driver and having him charged. I am, however, a little bothered by this sentence from the story,
"He (Ward)also founded Wolfpack Hustle, which takes high-speed group rides with a somewhat cavalier approach to traffic laws."
Steamer at December 20, 2012 9:21 AM
Steamer: That bugged me too. As a cyclist, I really detest the a**holes out there who give us all a bad reputation.
However, I went a looked at a couple of their videos on YouTube, and it's noteworthy that they have lights, helmets, and seem to actually behave pretty well.
Getting back to the story: What kind of police department let's hit-and-run drivers off the hook so easily? That's just stupid. Hit-and-run is no joke, because you don't know how badly someone has been hurt.
Even if the legal penalties are low, the police can still take this seriously: Lock the people up for the night, impound their cars for evidence, etc..
a_random_guy at December 20, 2012 9:43 AM
Wow that's neat.
All he really needed help on was someone to run a query on the plates...I don't see why anyone can't run a CLETS or NCIC query. Guess there is too much information in the system, like SSN or suspicions.
carol at December 20, 2012 1:13 PM
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