Reckless Driving

A cyclist testified Friday that he was run off the road by a physician seven months before the doctor allegedly injured two other cyclists on the same Brentwood street when he slammed on the brakes of his car in front of them. Patrick Early, an advertising consultant, said he was riding up Mandeville Canyon Road when a speeding red Infiniti honked aggressively and passed inches from his bicycle, forcing him into a gutter. Early identified Dr. Christopher Thompson in court as the driver and accused him of shouting a profanity and telling him to get off the road.

A bicyclist testified Friday that a Brentwood doctor deliberately slammed on his car brakes in an effort to injure him and a companion last year as they rode down a narrow stretch of Mandeville Canyon Road in Brentwood. Christian Stoehr recalled hearing the engine noise of an approaching car and then an "angry honk" of a horn. When he and a fellow rider fell into single file to let the driver past, Stoehr testified that the motorist zoomed up alongside them, exchanged angry words and then pulled in front of them and hit his brakes.

After slamming on his car brakes in front of two cyclists riding down a narrow stretch of Mandeville Canyon Road and injuring them, Christopher Thomas Thompson gave police the impression that the incident this summer was no accident. The 59-year-old physician said he stopped his red Infiniti sedan in front of the cyclists to "teach them a lesson," a police officer testified Thursday at Thompson's preliminary hearing.

SACRAMENTO -- State Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving Friday and was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay $710 in fines and court fees. The court decision came as the California Highway Patrol released tapes of 911 calls from worried motorists who reported Migden driving erratically on eastbound Interstate 80, between Berkeley and Sacramento, on May 18.

Former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday that he was glad his son was safe and getting treatment a day after the 24-year-old was arrested in Orange County on suspicion of illegally possessing marijuana and prescription drugs. "We love him very much," Gore told NBC's "Today" show, adding, "We are going to leave it as a private matter." Gore, who appeared on NBC to publicize this weekend's Live Earth concerts, also briefly discussed politics.

The son of former Vice President Al Gore was arrested early Wednesday in Orange County on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs, the latest in a series of incidents with law enforcement agencies in recent years. Albert Gore III was taken into custody about 2:15 a.m. after Orange County sheriff's deputies stopped him for driving about 100 mph on the southbound Interstate 5 in Laguna Niguel.

The California Highway Patrol recommended Monday that state Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) be charged with reckless driving resulting in bodily injury, and that the Department of Motor Vehicles evaluate her fitness to drive. Earlier this month, Migden struck a guardrail on Interstate 80 in Vallejo and rear-ended a car that was stopped at a red light in Fairfield, slightly injuring the driver and a 3-year-old.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that police may use deadly force to stop a speeding motorist who ignores warnings and poses a danger to the public. In an 8-1 decision, the justices threw out a lawsuit brought by a Georgia teenager who was paralyzed after a police cruiser rammed the back of his car and sent it careening off the road. The teenager had sped away from police and led them on a high-speed chase down narrow two-lane roads.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles said Thursday that they would ask a judge to revoke Paris Hilton's probation in a reckless-driving case, a move that could lead to a jail term. The decision followed an investigation into whether the hotel heiress and reality-TV star violated terms of her probation by driving last month with a suspended license.