The Kensington Market street dispute

The street dispute that I mentioned the other day is getting global attention. I think the reason we find it so compelling is because it could happen to any one of us. Let me give a short recap here and explain the characters.

You have a motorist (known as the idiot). He throws his hamburger on the street. Next comes the cyclist. She sees the litterbug, picks up hamburger, opens his car door and throws it back at him. The idiot gets out of car and throws two coffees at the cyclist. She scratches his car (this may or may not have been an accident). The idiot goes mental. Thankfully, alot of bystanders jumped to her aid and separated them. A passerby just happens to be on hand with camera and records it all. He follows the idiot back to his car to get his license number. The idiot takes a bat from the trunk and charges the photographer. You can check out all the pics and comments at citynoise.org, however, the comments have turned into a cesspool that only the freaks at Little Green Footballs could bask in. I did however glance thru them and picked out some of the interesting ones that give more details on this story.

First off, it turns out the cyclist is named Leah and she posted her side of the story.

Leah: 27th Jan 2006 - 22:45 GMT

Hello all! I am the
girl in the pics. My name is Leah and although I am a courier, I was WALKING my
bike up Agusta when the incident took place. He was driving and opened his door
(while driving) and yelling profanities he threw his beef patty on a bun out of
his door. I walked over to his car, and right or wrong, I opened the door and
"gave" him back his food (which he MUST have dropped by accident!) He then lost
it, and jumped out of his car and threw 2 large Timmies at meand then grabbed me
by my helmet and tried to toss me around a bit.It was at that point that my bike
lock key (that I wear on a bracelet around my wrist) scratched his car. I have
read all the postings about people sympathetic to the car driver due to the
expense of repairing the scratch but sorry folks, i doubt that it will cost him
anything to repair as it was a 1.2cm mark in the clearcoat only(did not damage
the paint) but regardless a scratch none the less. Then with some "encouraging"
from some helpfull bystanders he got in his car and drove away...or so I
thought! People were comming up to me and saying that I should have him charged
but at that point I just figured I had made my anti-littering point and and eye
for and eye with the coffee shower, I mean I did throw that patty right. But
just as I was getting on my bike to ride home he came running back and thats
when the photos start. He had driven half a block and decided that the scratch
was worthy of a more thorough beating I guess. Now for a bit of clarity on a
couple of things...The blonde girl is his girlfriend...she also makes a pretty
good shield from an angry mob!I was NOT punching anyone! especially not with
keys in my hand! I was just trying to save my bike (I just built it a week
ago!!)And as for the police charging him....He took off in his car as soon as he
heard the sirens....they chased him down but it is not a crime to leave the
scene. They were going to charge him with a variety of things including assult
with a weapon x2, mischief x2, aggravated assult, etc, but the police informed
me that if I went ahead and placed those charges then they would have to charge
me with mischeif for the scratch. So in the interests of good karma (and my own
sanity) I have opted to "let it go" and allow the universe to repay this
angermanagement case in its own way.And finally to those who say that i must
have had a sudden case of self ritousness in regard to littering.....YOU ARE
WRONG! I hate littering and NEVER do> In fact I am constantly picking up
litter and make my son pick up litter at the park. I just feel that it is such a
fixable issue in the world today. If everyone would not throw their own piece of
litter then there would be none!! What a concept eh!?enjoy the beautiful winter
riding!

Leah: 27th Jan 2006 - 22:49 GMT
P.S. if anyone knows the girl with the vest on, who was the first to jump on his back, please please let me know. I owe her at least a heartfelt thanks in person. And to
everyone else who was there and helped out THANK YOU!!!! xo

Let me explain now that there are 2 women wearing vests in this incident. The first person on the scene was wearing a black vest. It appears she tried to separate these two (according to the pictures). It looks like that is who Leah wishes to thank. The idiot’s girlfriend was wearing a White Vest. (Here they both are)




Here is the White Vest woman now telling her side of the story:

"The Motorists": 31st Jan 2006 - 22:26 GMT
To All The Readers,
This is the blonde girl in the last picture. The girl in the "white vest" that the "victim"
would like to thank. You can start by sending me $2000.00 for the damaged on our
car. I was in the passengers side and witnessed the whole thing. First of all my fiance did not throw the patty out of the car. We had just brought them and were putting groceries in the car when it must have fallen. Why would we through something away that we just purchased? Instead of behaving like a lady and a mother why wouldn't you knock on the car window to tell us we dropped something instead she opened the driver side door and throw the patty at our heads. My fiance opened the door to grab her not know she was female and she than jumped on the side of the car with her keys in her hand saying "I'm going to f***ing key your car". She did about 3-4 times. She also spit all over the car as well. (Nice Lady)We parked the car to see the damaged and my fiance went to get her information to pay for the damage and she tried to take off. That is why he grabbed her bike. His hand got caught in her tire. Other people jumped him because she acting as though she was an innocent cyclist being attacked. If you all want to know she makes a hobby out of doing this. She has done this to a motorist before and was charged and ended up in court. Now you have the real story. If we were in the wrong the police who saw the damage to our car would have charged us. No one saw what she did. They just thought someone was attacking a woman. If anyone knows where I can get a hold of her I would like her to pay for the damages

As you see she totally misunderstood who Leah wished to thank. I’m not convinced her story is true either. If they were putting groceries in the car why would Leah have had to open the car door? Why did the Idiot chase the photographer with a bat? Either way – no reason for him to go mental.

At this point in the discussion you have clearly divided camps. There are some calling Leah a bitch and/or dyke and telling her to mind her own business. And, you have some calling for his head and how he needs anger management. There are also a number of people warning the White Vest gal to get out of the relationship before he goes mental on her.

Next up to bat is the White Vest woman’s brother:

serves her right : 1st Feb 2006 - 00:14 GMT
Ok Iam the brother of the girl and the brother in-law of the guy first Id like to say to all those people out there that think this guy is nuts and beats my sister your wrong. This guy is one of the most nicest people you can meet as well he treats my sister
excellent,if he did not myself and my friends would not tolerate this and ifthere was abuse the situation would be dealt with a harsh penalty.Iam a strong believer in NO ONE TOUCHES MY SISTER in the wrong matter and believe me my friends are the people you read about in the newspapers ok.I can assure to all you people out there he has never touched my sister the wrong way.I strongly believe that most of us would not offer this lady to go have a coffee and talk about why she WHIPPED the patty back at the face of the driver and close the door.What would you all have really done, probably almost the samething.Besides if there is no litter bugs out there alot of people would be out of a
JOB.Kensington Market isnt full of crazy drivers its full of alcholics, drug dealers and drug abusers who walk around the streets thinking they own it, the only normal people in the Market are the outside shoppers that come in for the deals.SO to end this matter she is just lucky that she didnt open the door of a car that belonged to a thug because she probably would have gotten shot and to all you people who have a big mouth on line your the type of people that hide in your house with your white picket fences mad at how things are in this city and do nothing about it so SHUT UP stay inside if you dont like the real world and keep your FU..KING mouths shut.To all the people that agree that she was the stupid one for doing that thanks for being normal citizens that see when stupid people do stupid thing,stupid things should happen to them.

serves her right : 1st Feb 2006 - 01:06 GMT
Leahs the reason why people get into fights she put her nose where it doesnt belong just like George Bush but i guess people like you like people sticking their noses in your buisness why dont you tell me where you live,let me stick my nose in your business see what you say then. She wasnt sticking up for her neighbourhood or the city maybe she is the one who cant control herself if she acted like a normal citizen which you want so bad in this city nothing would have happened.BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO heres some woman that obviously feels she is so above others she can open the door to anyones car or maybe home and acts how she wants.FUCK her and FUCK you i hope some kid throws a patty in your kids face one day or in your face for that matter see how youd act. You should let me throw one in your face but as much as i would like to to prove a point I as my sister were raised to respect others who respect you back.And treat other as youd like to be treated but i was also taught that if someone throws something to harm me or my family to deal with it.

Just a reminder that “serves her right” is defending the idiot. What a spokesperson!

White Vest gal decides to comment again.

The "Motorists": 1st Feb 2006 - 01:12 GMT
Dear Readers,
This is the girl in the "white vest". I understand that there is mixed views on this situation. I fully understand this. You do not know me or my fiance and that is fine. If you think my story is false by all means view the police report. There just wasn,t a tiny
scratch there were 3-4, 5 inches in length. I will tell you this I will buy her a brand new bike if she pays the damage to MY CAR.

The brother needs to learn when to keep quiet.

serves her right : 1st Feb 2006 - 01:12 GMT
i didnt say i agree with stomping a bike but no one is talking about her opening a car door that doesnt belong to her and whipp a beef patty at peoples heads.Iam saying if someone did that to you you wouldnt just sit there and be like thats ok,have a nice day.I really dont agree with how people are judging him because of some snap shots give me a break I have kids and I wouldnt wantr them having someone throw something in their face because one thought they were littering.Whos really at fault

Now that is really frightening – this wacko has kids!

serves her right : 1st Feb 2006 - 01:19 GMT
your all concerned about his actions ok lets say it was your kids in the car all kids throw things out the window and all of a sudden some crazy ass bitch cyclist picks up that garbage from the ground opens your car door whipps it inside and it hits your child or children then what myself as a dad i would get out of my car and kick the shit out of the person.Its the samething she opened a car door and assaulted someone for crying out loud but beacuase it was a woman who threw something at someones head oh boy she is in the right he is in the wrong this country is so bloody bias it isnt funny.

I’m curious as to where exactly ‘serves her right’ is from. He is acting like he’s not Canadian – yet, he’s the White Vest woman’s brother.

Ok, here are two comments from others on the scene:

Frank: 1st Feb 2006 - 01:54 GMT
I was there! You can see ny white van in some of pictures and me. I'm the guy with the
fingerless gloves.The guy wasn't really trying to hurt her. He was more wrestling. I'm not saying he was right...I was only trying to protect my own property and trying to disfuse the situation but couldn't think of anything. By the way, he jumped out his car while it was still moving and opened his door against my door.He dented my door a little. He also threw coffee all over my truck.The guy should ask himself why I didn't go after him? He had no problem going after a girl!

That's a very interesting point Frank. Would the idiot have gone after the cyclist if it had been a man? Actually, the idiot looks like a maniac, so I would assume yes.

Laurel: 1st Feb 2006 - 02:17 GMT
I was there too. Frank's wife. Couldn't believe this guy attacking an 100 lb women! The look on his face says it all.What about the damage he did to our van? I suppose you people who support him would think its okay for Frank and I to stomp all over his car?Wazzup with this guys girlfriend? To say this guy has issues is an understatement. I'm glad that Hool posted this. This idiot has to live this down in front of all his friends, co-workers and family in the TO area. I'm sure he is recognized.What Leah did was wrong but did not deserve this guy going apeshit on her and scaring everyone on the street. By the way, the vendor behind our van had all his mechandise ruined when the guy threw coffee all over the place.Leah appeared calm after this happened but I could see her hands shaking.

Brother dim wit just can’t leave this alone

serves her right : 1st Feb 2006 - 02:37 GMT
she threw it in his face she didnt say excuse me sir could you please place that in the garbage like a normal person would have she threw it at him thats assault and if you
commend that your more of the problem then him

serves her right : 1st Feb 2006 - 02:53 GMT
rappar is the normal person replying on this your so right this counrty is so bloody bias woman can get away with murder, shes lucky she dont live in Iraq where legally she could have been shot dead by the guy

And finally, someone claiming to the be the idiot in question makes a comment:

DRIVER: 1st Feb 2006 - 15:01 GMT
hello my name is alex solski and i just wanna say that i had the reaction that i did simply because this ugly dyke threw the litter right in my girlfriends beautiful face.and i dont give a fuck what you people think if somebody did this to your girlfriend you wouldn't put up with it either.b-sides i didnt attack a lady i attacked a man wannabe,and her dyke of a girlfriend wich you can see in picture number 8 was the first to attack me,as you can see.dont miss judje me.i was just minding my own bussiness,and the streets of kensington are packed with shit anyway,so what difference does it make

Well, there you have it. At least White Vest gal, brother and idiot were all fairly consistent in their comments - definitely the type of people you don't want as your neighbours. It is worth noting that Leah at least took responsibility for her actions. Would be nice to see the others do the same.

Kudos to all the bystanders for jumping in and helping to resolve the situation!