As the cycling community traded notes, people began to question if Dr. Thompson was the same motorist who had a run-in with two cyclists in Mandeville Canyon in March. A member of both clubs forwarded Patrick Watson’s account of his experience to Peterson. The vanity plate, “TCH MDX,” matched, as did the description of the car. The experience was almost identical.
In the March incident, the driver sped ahead of the cyclists then slammed on his brakes. Watson rode into someone’s yard while teammate Josh Crosby veered into oncoming traffic; Watson said the driver made a second effort to hit them and then sped away.
Neither rider was injured. Despite pressure from La Grange’s Public Policy Director, Jeffrey Courion, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley declined to prosecute the case; Watson was told it wasn’t a winner. “I’m a little bitter because this happened before, but no one took it seriously.”