The Antelope Valley Times

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Two charged with assaulting bicyclists

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PALMDALE – Two men who allegedly terrorized a caravan of older bicyclists out for a Sunday morning ride were charged with several felony counts Tuesday, authorities said.

Collin Kosche, 19, of Lancaster was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, driving under the influence of alcohol and causing injury, driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or more and causing injury, and leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

Andrew Aguirre, 20, of Santa Clarita was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

The charges stem from an incident that happened around 9 a.m. Sunday on Elizabeth Lake Road, just west of Bouqet Canyon Road, according to one of the victims.

“There was a group of bicyclists on a leisure ride out in the Lake Hughes area,” said Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Lt. Cory Kennedy. “The two suspects, who had been out drinking most of the night, came driving upon this caravan of bicyclists and decided that it would be fun to see if [they] could actually strike one of the bike riders and see what happens.”

Kosche drove a black 2009 Ford Focus alongside the riders, while Aguirre reached out and smacked the last bike rider across the lower back, Kennedy said.

The bicyclist was able to maintain his balance, but then the car swerved and clipped another 55-year-old bicyclist in the group, causing the man to go down, Kennedy said.

A third bicyclist was then struck with the rearview mirror of the car. The 55-year-old bicyclist kept his balance, but the mirror hit Aguirre across the head and injured him, Kennedy said.

Kosche and Aguirre then fled the scene. Deputies fanned out in the Lake Hughes area and caught up to the two suspects a short time later, Kennedy said.

The car was found at a home in 42800 Block of Whetstone Drive in Lake Elizabeth, Kennedy said. It was apparently registered to a family member of Kosche.

Kosche and Aguirre were arrested around 10:30 a.m. Sunday. When interviewed, both suspects copped to harassing the bike riders, Kennedy said.

“They basically, frankly, said ‘yeah, we wanted to see if we could hit these guys,’” Kennedy said.

The suspects estimated their car was traveling about 40 to 50 miles an hour when it pulled alongside the bicyclists, who were going about 20 miles an hour, Kennedy said. Kosche was nonchalant when confronted about what might have happened if his vehicle had hit the bicyclists full-on, Kennedy said.

“He said, ‘yeah, they would be pretty f’d up,’ and then he just laughed about it. I guess he thought that it was funny,” Kennedy said.

The bicyclist, who was smacked in the back, sustained a large bruise “from hip to hip” across his lower back and had hand and arm prints across his skin, Kennedy said. The 55-year-old bicyclist, who was clipped by the car and fell to the ground, sustained large abrasions from the asphalt and was taken to the hospital for treatment. And the 55-year-old bicyclist who was struck by the rear view mirror complained of pain to his tailbone and sustained a laceration on his ankle, Kennedy said. All seven bicyclists in the group were from Lancaster.

“I have never seen this callous, this just basically cruel type of an incident…” Kennedy said. “We see bikes go down but it’s always an accident, but this was just intentional.”

Kosche remains jailed on $100,000 bail. Aguirre was released Sunday night after making his $30,000 bail. Both men are due in court on April 23.

Editor’s Note: A few details of this story were changed based on information from one of the victims. Thank you, Kevin Walsh, for providing us with these details. According to Walsh, five cyclists were assaulted and two of them crashed as a result.

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

32 comments for "Two charged with assaulting bicyclists"

  1. the bicyclists should one day go out and see what it feels like to shoot young good for nothing drunks with painball guns

    • Oh yes, let’s do that! We can teach people it’s wrong to do things like that BY DOING THEM OURSELVES. Moron.

  2. I think most of the people that have commented have missed the point… And have definitely misplaced the blame. The cyclists were the victims here! I don’t care if they were riding a heard of elephants sideways down the middle of the road, these two drunks had no regard for the consequences of there actions. Their inability to think may or may not have been caused by being intoxicated. I think it has to do more with the lack of a moral compass that should have been developed long before doing time in prison.(hopefully thats where they end up) Hmmmm…. First offenders? Or habitual and escalating terrorists to society? Their young what could be next…. Seeing how close they can get to a bus stop of grade schoolers waitng for their school bus?

  3. Kevin, When I started reading the story I wondered if you were there. I hope you guys are OK! This makes me afraid to ride.

  4. Palmdale certainly doesn’t need cyclists and their money. I will recommend to the organizers of the Amgen Tour of California that in the future they avoid this redneck area for the safety of their participants and fans. The annual infusion of cash into the bottom lines of local businesses will be better spent in areas that demonstrate though their hospitality that they want the money.

    • How can you say that? Why should the businesses of Palmdale pay the consequence for the inappropriate actions of two ignorant young men? One of the men doesn’t even live in the Antelope Valley. What’s your real motivation for not wanting Amgen Tour of California to come to the AV?

      • The incident itself and the comments below speak for themselves. Presumably, the perpetrators and the readers don’t want us in their town. What better way to hit back at such bigotry than to take our business elsewhere?

        • I beg you, please do not let the comments of an ignorant few lead you to believe that Palmdale is mired in bigotry. As a minority with a keen eye for knowing when I’m being “shaded” or disrespected, I can tell you that the majority of Palmdale residents and the city leadership are some of the most open minded welcoming people you could hope for in a small town. God bless the Internet thugs who comment on this forum, but they DO NOT, nor will they EVER represent the entire city of Palmdale!

        • So you’re judging all of the 150,000+ citizens of Palmdale by the actions of two lawbreakers (one of whom is from the Santa Clarita Valley) and some ignorant comments a few people posted here? Really? Instead of being so judgmental perhaps you should look for ways to help make the situation better.

  5. I can’t remember the number of times I’ve wanted to wack one of those bicyclist upside the head for doing 20 mph down the center lane of Bouquet Canyon – through the entire length – without pulling over to let traffic pass.

    • @cynical: I couldn’t agree with you more! Apparently I missed the section of the vehicle code that states that bicycle riders take priority over every other vehicle when traveling over public roads. It seem that, with 98.3% of the cyclists, once they mount their bike, their arrogance increases significantly. If they happen to be wearing all the “proper attire”, they seem to think they’re almost “God-like”.

    • The actions of these two men were absolutely deplorable. While you may have fantasied about “whacking one of those bicyclist’s upside the head” my assumption is you have never acted on it. These men did. Sympathizing as to how annoying you find bicyclists is giving credence to the multiple FELONIES committed.

      • Actually, only one felony. And that felony has nothing to do with hitting the bicyclists. Also, those bicyclists are annoying. Who bikes there?! It’s a stupid idea for so many reasons.

  6. These guys show no respect for their common man and need to be dealt a serious term for their crimes to prevent any future sociopaths from thinking they can get a slap on the wrist for that kind of behavior.

  7. I know is it is not cool and I don’t do it, but, folks, we gotta wear our bike helmets. The idiots are out there and will harm us if we don’t!

  8. Who does that, what a bunch of idiots! I’m glad no one was critically injured. I can’t wait to move from the AV, Santa Monica here I come!

    • Santa Monica!??! You think that’s better? Well, ya know what? Maybe you should go there if you think like those libs do. We don’t need that kind here…Go!

    • pffft! like “Santa Monica” is some kind of paradise or something???? I guess it is if you like lots of traffic and living in a converted garage for $2000 a month! Good luck ever trying to own anything!

      • I do see it as an ideal living situation. I definitely know that the quality of living, people, education, and jobs are much better than here. Me staying here is simply settling. I’m in the marketing industry and have had all of the “good jobs” here in the AV before I even hit 21. I have to commute to make much more money, No thanks! I’d rather pay more for a better quality of life, if you like it here, good for you! It isn’t for everyone especially a young professional.

  9. I forgot to mention that the other cyclist who crashed is in his low 20s and he also competes in races. So we’re not all “old”.

  10. Thanks much for publishing the article. It’s good to know what charges were filed and when the court date is. But I need to elaborate and make some corrections to the article. Apparently, I’m the “65 year old bicyclist”. I’m actually 55 years old and was leading a paceline of 6 other bicyclists at near 20 mph against the wind. We are all very fit and very experienced cyclists. I have been riding my bike on Elizabeth Lake Rd for over 30 years. I’ve been averaging 12,000 miles per year on my bicycle since 1995. There were 7 of us, not 8-10. The location of the incident is incorrect. We were hit on Elizabeth Lake Rd about 1/4 mile west of Bouquet Cyn Rd. The mirror did not brake off and fly back into the car. The passenger was leaning out of the car when the mirror broke and hit him. The mirror was with us at the accident scene. Five of us were hit/clipped by either a hand, arm, mirror or what was left of the mirror on the car. As a result, two of the cyclists crashed. The 55 year old that crashed has raced bicycles most of his life and has excellent bike handling skills. The other 3 who got hit but didn’t crash, including myself, was because of good bike handling skills and luck. While leading the paceline, I was in a tuck on my aerobars. I felt something hard hit my left tailbone then immediately felt the car brush my shoulder and legs as it passed me. After the car passed me it kept drifting right, more into the shoulder. the car then got back in the lane and kept going. We were so lucky – this could have been so much worse – a matter of inches from being a multiple-fatality incident. I want to thank the LA County Sheriff’s Dept for an outstanding job catching the perps so quickly.

    • Wow its amazing how many details get lost or changed as the story changes hands and finally ends up here.

      I hope they both get some jail time and the driver should also have his licence suspended for… lets say about 4 years.

      The worst I have had as a bicycle rider is when a car full of young idiots pulls up next to me and honks their horn in an effort startle me and cause me to lose control, I have had that happen a few times and then the car speeds away and you can hear the teens laughing as they go.

      Sounds like “these” idiots took it a step further – I am glad they got caught.

    • I am quite curious as to how a 50 mph car can “brush” against you, you going at 20 mph, and nothing happening except for what happened with the one hitting you WITH HIS HANDS… good bike handling skills aside, you do know how force works right?

  11. THESE TWO SOUND LIKE OUTSTANDING CITIZENS OF THE QUARTZ HILL MOBILE HOME PARK!! LoL