Darcy Allen Sheppard Fundraiser Tonight

If youre in Toronto tonight (September 26th), come on down to the Darcy Allan Sheppard fundraiser. There will be raffles, items for sale (T-shirts, stickers, pins, spoke cards, vouchers, etc.), "Kick Ass Karaoke" by Carson T Foster, and lots of good people. Great Lakes will be helping us out with beer. The door will be ten dollar or pay what you can. All proceeds will go to help pay for the burial/transportation costs and to raise money for the children of Darcy Allan Sheppard.

Host: TOBMA-Toronto Bike Messenger Association
Type: Causes - Fundraiser
Network: Global
Start Time: Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 9:00pm
End Time: Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 2:00am
Location: Sneaky Dee's
Street: 431 College St.
City/Town: Toronto, ON
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125621767851

If you cant make it to the fundraiser, but still want to contribute, here are some other ways to help out:

1) Visit the TOBMA website at http://www.tobma.com/ and donate via PayPal (100% secure)

2) Any branch of TD Canada Trust. Please provide the name Darcy Allan Sheppard and/or the account number 06906676860 to donate in person at a TD location.

3) Check or money order:
Make payable to: TOBMA
Reference: "Darcy Allan Sheppard Memorial Fund" on the check or money order.
Mail to:
TOBMA / Courier Worker Centre
92 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 1X6
Canada

Darcy Allan Sheppard Fundraiser

There will be a fundraiser for the children of Toronto bicycling courier Darcy Sheppard, who died after an altercation with former Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant, and his automobile.

The fundraiser will be held on September 22, 2009 at Sneaky Dees's, 431 College St. Toronto. Please see below for more information.

Visit the facebook group.

Darcy Allan Sheppard Fundraiser
Host: TOBMA-Toronto Bike Messenger Association
Type: Causes - Fundraiser
Network: Global
Start Time: Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 9:00pm
End Time: Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 2:00am
Location: Sneaky Dee's
Street: 431 College St.
City/Town: Toronto, ON

Donations for the Darcy Allan Sheppard memorial fund can be given several ways:
1) Come to the fundraiser. We will be accepting cash there.
2) Visit the TOBMA website at http://www.tobma.com/ and donate via PayPal (100% secure)
3) Any branch of TD Canada Trust. Please provide the name Darcy Allan Sheppard and/or the account number 06906676860 to donate in person at a TD location.
4) Check or money order:
Make payable to: TOBMA
Reference: "Darcy Allan Sheppard Memorial Fund" on the check or money order.
Mail to:
TOBMA / Courier Worker Centre
92 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 1X6
Canada

New surveillance footage: Michael Bryant loses patience when Sheppard lingers at green light

This is an update to this original posting.

I was contacted today with the following message with the subject: "New surveillance footage: Michael Bryant loses patience when Sheppard lingers at green light" and link to the attached youtube video. Please take a look, and form your own opinion. I know the media stories lately seem to be leaning towards blaming the victim, however, it is still my feeling that the car should have immediately stopped. One more thing; please share the road!

"Please take a look at the links below to YouTube videos (surveillance camera footage) showing what happened exactly – at Bay & Bloor in Toronto - between cyclist Darcy Allan Sheppard and motorist Michael Bryant. The clips appeared on City TV hours after the accident, yet the media continues to imply Sheppard chased the car down on foot in a rage after a minor collision.

In the footage, Bryant loses patience after the light turns green - first uses the car to intimidate Sheppard. Then strikes him and pushes him ten feet. Bryant then puts it in Reverse then Drive and guns it past Sheppard. As the cyclist struggles to get up, he grabs the passing car mirror to try to keep the car at the scene."

NOW Magazine (read public comments at bottom)

http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=171209

Bryantfacts

http://twitter.com/bryantfacts

Bryanttruths

http://twitter.com/bryanttruths

On YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/honestedits

Former ON Attorney General Charged

Former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant has been charged with criminal negligence causing death after a 33-year-old cyclist was struck and killed last night.

He was also charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.

Friends identified the victim as bicycle courier Darcy Allan Sheppard, father of three.

Bryant is scheduled to appear in Old City Hall court on Oct. 19.

Sheppard, who was called Al by friends, was likely heading to his new home in the Dupont and Dufferin Sts. area at the time of the incident, friends said. They said Sheppard had just got back together with his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Misty, and had said he wanted to marry her.

"Things were starting to go well for him right around now. Stuff was looking good for him," said 24-year-old Sana, who did not want to give her last name.

Witnesses on Bloor St. last night described a heated confrontation between the driver of a black Saab convertible and a cyclist that began near Bloor and Bay Sts. at about 9:45 p.m.

Police Sgt. Tim Burrows said that after a minor collision, the cyclist grabbed hold of the car, which drove west on Bloor toward Avenue Rd.

Witnesses said the cyclist clung to the driver's side of the car, which had its top down, while the driver yelled at him to get off.

The vehicle veered into the eastbound lanes and mounted the curb, brushing against trees and poles. The victim was apparently run over by the rear wheels of the vehicle, witnesses said.

The driver's wife was a passenger in the car, police said.

Lots of people were watching and they couldn't believe what was happening," said Ryan Brazeau, a worker with a crew laying sewer pipes on Bloor.

One construction worker told CTV News he heard the squeal of tires and saw the car racing the wrong way down the street past their construction site, with the cyclist hanging onto the car.

"The guy hanging onto the car, hit the mailbox, hit the road, (then) . . . the car ran over him with the back tires," the witness said. "The guy bounced and the car sped off . . . the person was there just bleeding."

The witness said he felt sick to his stomach when he saw the cyclist "bleeding from his head, his mouth."

Sheppard was taken to St. Michael's Hospital with serious head injuries and died around midnight.

Burrows said a large portion of the incident was captured on surveillance video and that investigators are working to fill in the gaps.

Police said alcohol was not involved.

Around 9 a.m. today two of Sheppard's friends sat on the sidewalk scrawling notes for their friend, which they taped to a tree.

Read the full story at thestar.com

Now that a former, high level Ontario government official has (allegedly) managed to kill a cyclist, perhaps we will finally get bike lanes on Bloor St. Then again in David Millers toronto, I'd expect that we will have to kill off a few more cyclists in 'accidents' such as this one. Maybe then we will see some change. This whole thing reeks of a case of road rage on at least Michael Bryant's part, and maybe on the part of the unfortunate cyclist too, but that doesn't justify dragging a man down the street until you (allegedly) kill him.