Hiker to Claim Self Defence After Right of Way Dispute Stabbing
A hiker who is facing a felony assault charge following an altercation with a mountain biker is likely to claim self-defense at his trial, the Bellingham Herald reports.
69-year-old Dake Traphagen is accused of stabbing a 66-year-old mountain biker following a right of way dispute on a multi-use, bi-directional trail in Bellingham. He is charged with first-degree assault and an additional gross misdemeanor charge of possession of a dangerous weapon for the use of a spring-blade knife.
A statement provided to The Bellingham Herald by his defense attorney Angela Anderson states, “Mr. Traphagen has a very strong self-defense claim which is supported by two independent witnesses who we expect to testify about the attack on my client. Unlike the alleged victim, he remained at the scene and cooperated with law enforcement... My client is a 69-year-old man who cares about his community, volunteers often, and has no history of violence or aggression. We ask that people refrain from judgment and let the truth come out through the court process.” Traphagen was released on a $1,000 cash bail and will enter his plea at his arraignment on April 12.
Photo: Screenshot Whatcom County Jail.
More details revealed about the incident
Records show that Traphagen was charged on March 23 in Whatcom County Superior Court, where further details emerged about the case. As we previously reported, the incident took place on the Stewart Mountain Trail on March 6 and it appears that neither party was willing to yield while passing each other so an argument broke out over who had right of way.
Traphagen claimed that the mountain biker attacked him with his bike after the disagreement and they fell to the ground. During the altercation, he had pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed the mountain biker in self-defense to get him off as he feared for his life. However, the mountain biker claims that his handlebars were grabbed, which caused him to lose balance, so he and the bike tumbled onto the hiker as he was still clipped in. It was at this point he claims he was stabbed multiple times.
Court filings now reveal that a bystander has filmed the incident. The video apparently shows that a woman hiking with Traphagen was grabbing the mountain biker's helmet during the incident and that the hikers were all shouting at the biker to get off Traphagen throughout. After the mountain biker had got up from the altercation, court records state that he was asked what was wrong with him, he said he had been stabbed multiple times and then Traphagen told him, "you are lucky".
The woman filming the incident apparently rang 911 after the mountain biker had asked for someone to do so three times as she was concerned he would pass out on his way down the trail. A witness from neither party who came across the incident apparently wanted to perform first aid on the mountain biker but didn't feel safe due to the aggressive behavior from the hikers, court records report.
The mountain biker received five stab wounds from the incident. He suffered excessive blood loss and a nerve in his arm was severed. He has apparently lost feeling in some of his fingers and has been told the damage could be permanent. We will update this story as more information becomes available.
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Uhhhh - Maybe he left the scene because he was bleeding profusely and had to get to the hospital? Odd take...
The rider did the absolute correct thing in putting physical distance between himself and the hiker, albeit a tad late in the game. However if this is the story the hiker wants to portray, he’s more than welcome to, but playing the jury for fools rarely works out. I’d be surprised if the lawyer ultimately makes this argument in court as it seems so asinine, but stranger things have happened.
first, you are not *required* to hire an attorney, or have one appointed by the court. its moronic not to, but there is no requirement.
second, since this isn't a capitol offense, it doesn't take a unanimous jury to convict. a hung jury is simply one that cannot get to the necessary votes to convict. whether that is a preponderance or unanimous depends on the crime and jurisdiction. In this case, it would likely just be a majority.
lastly, if you are afraid of being railroaded by the Hikerati on a jury, you can as a defendant, always choose to forgo a jury trial and have it heard by a judge.
This is a much deeper problem which needs to addressed not only in court.
I bet this would not happen anywhere near me, as we simply have not so many Karrens & weapons over here. We do have arguments from time to time, small ones, some RAGE mode ones for sure, but more often the hikers are happy to share the trail, as we are happy to show them how great our sport is.
Your legal System has a "Self Defense Problem" as this seems to be a golden Ticket for such a long time now. How can a nation still fight to perform laws (Constitution) that were written under different circumstances and which were never intended to be as "permanent as the bible" or could the fathers of the nation have foreseen the modern times with thier problems, weapons or education...? I mean they where written when they invented to light bulb... no one would consider any invention or other book from that time to be still relevant and acurate to the date. Even the light bulb had to undergo many changes...
I'm not saying this case is a classic US nightmare, but your country needs to rethink how to deal with weapons. Not only knifes, than when it is normal to oppenly carry assault riffles in a city, what does it make with your mind?
Would you show your kids how to abuse drugs? Clearly not. But drugs kill less than a forth than weapons do...
Enough of this shit! Go out and ride your damn bike, this is what we came here for, isn't it?
And just to be clear I don't want to piss off any of you and I do have deep respect to your nations heritage.
www.traphagenguitars.com
The Aussies had similar firearms issues (not to quite the same extent) where there were many many unlicensed firearms out in public. An amnesty was held and all were banned and handed in. Now only licences firearms for hunting, farming etc are allowed. Certainly no automatic weapons...
#2 was almost the same story as this one. Straight access road, we see eachother from 100 yards. I was having a mechanical issue riding slow, me and the hiker made eye contact probably 6 times as I approached, he stepped all the way off the side of the trail and waited for me. As I was saying "good morning " he jumped forward, grabbed my handlebars and yelled that he has the right of way and I never gave him any warning. He was trying to pull my bike out from under me, I pushed him back into the woods where he fell on his back.
Legend has it he still is in the brush.
First: Here, a defendant is entitled to an attorney irrespective of their ability to afford one. That is because USA jurisprudence recognizes that it's unjust to try somebody without representation. Yes, a defendant can choose to represent themselves, but as you say that would be moronic, so I don't know why you even brought it up.
Second: The US Supreme Court ruled in 2020's Ramos v. Louisiana that non-unanimous juries could not be used to convict criminal defendants. And that ruling was relevant only to Oregon and Louisiana, the only two states that had still allowed it. Hint: Washington is not Oregon or Louisiana, and the year is now 2021.
To your third point: Well, I can't even tell what your point is there, so feel free to try again to express clearly what your point is and moreover, how it relates whatsoever to what I wrote. A hiker is the one who will be put on trial, so why would a supposed "Hikerati" railroad them? Did you mean "Velominati"?
Seriously though, glad nothing worse came from those encounters.
This doesn’t change the fact that no one needs any firearm let alone the auto ones.
You say only 0.1% can be bothered to get ‘big’ guns. 0.1% of 333 million people is still 333,000 or 1/3 of a million people. Just totally unnecessary. You also missed my point.
AUS had problem
AUS got rid of guns
AUS now has no problem
For the record I don’t think you should ban certain types of firearm. I think you should ban ALL firearms. Flame away
sorry this was meant for the post before
Also 2A idiots: "I can't bring any medical supplies, then I wouldn't have room for my gun".
Bottom line, how an argument about right of way got to the point of a physical altercation and stabbing is just ridiculous and says a lot about both parties.
This ape literally stabbed a dude who fell on him accidentally in close quarters. This isn’t about whether he’s American, he is UNSTABLE and WEAK MINDED. Don’t give that man a f*cking gun. Don’t give that man a f*cking car either.
And I'm in no way saying this situation would be improved by adding a gun to the mix. My only point is that in situations similar to this one, a third party presenting their firearm and telling the other two to cool off and kick rocks could have dissipated the issue. pretty much the intended goal for police.
granted this situation is super f*cked, but just wanted to play devils advocate and point out that not every situation that is solved with a gun, is solved with a gun firing.
I think both of these guys needed some pot gummies before their hike/ride and none of this would have happened.
At least thats what I tell myself before every ride. Puff Puff Pass is the answer to every dispute.
A Brit here living in Japan who has had the pleasure of riding with many from both Canada and the US.
A few years ago, I was in a shuttle and during a conversation, some guys from the US and I were talking about life living in the UK when someone said that they “...always felt more scared out drinking in London than in the US” and it turns out it was because of all the knives that people might be carrying, rather than guns.
The feeling of most of the Americans who had lived in London was that they saw so many more people pick / start fights in London than in the US. They suggested that there is a fear lacking in London; that being no fear that someone may be carrying a gun. They said that fear does exist for them in the US and this fear tends to make people more likely to de-escalate, or at least be wary of picking a fight.
They all agreed they felt more likely to get hurt in London.
I am not saying any one way is better than another regarding gun ownership Or which weapons are more dangerous in the hands of unhinged folks, I just thought it was a really interesting insight to someone like me who hasn’t lived in a society with guns, and that you both might be interested in the anecdote.
Anyways, all interesting thoughts. Have a good day!
You just have to look at mass shooting statistics to see that. America had 417 mass shootings in 2019 alone. The UK had two in the 2010s.
"Knife murders are also higher stateside: there were 4.96 homicides “due to knives or cutting instruments” in the US for every million of population in 2016.
In Britain there were 3.26 homicides involving a sharp instrument per million people in the year from April 2016 to March 2017."
Don't believe the hype. The UK being terrible for knife crime is a US gun lobby talking point that does not reflect reality.
www.euronews.com/2018/05/05/trump-s-knife-crime-claim-how-do-the-us-and-uk-compare
Thanks
Anywho- I have delved deeper down this tangent than I wanted- my initial comment was that this person acted irrational and violent and having a gun might have made it worse. I hold to that. As David Hemenway, a professor of health policy at Harvard said, the presence of guns doesn't appear to impact crime rates, however, "What guns do is make hostile interactions—robberies, assaults—much more deadly" (www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/do-guns-make-us-safer-science-suggests-no)... and I think that would have been the case here. Small caveat that expectedly spiralled as any discussion on the topic tends to.
And you can literally swim from France to England so i dont think that is a protected border either.
England is way older than USA, much more time for criminal associations to form(looking at you Stone Masons ;-).
Their cities have have high densities as well.
Probably a lot more alike than not.
OK Lets switch it around and find the comparison between Canada and US. We have the longest coastline in the world, with very little population to protect it. We also have lots of guns.
But probably makes sense. I know a couple hunters and they have 10 and 12 guns respectively, but no one else I know has a gun.
To contrast an old buddy of mine from Oregon had at least 30(note not a hunter but had a concealed weapons licence). Example behind his front door was hidden a Glock, a 3030 and a 12 guage(loaded and ready) and there were guns hidden in every room in his house. You would sit on his couch, feel a lump, reach under the cushion and pull out a hand gun.
Also note, I am licenced to buy/own rifles but do not own one.
Comparing Canada vs US isn't much better unfortunately given the different border threats, and vastly different population size. And at that point I think you'd almost have to bring the weather into play.
I'm sure some stud economist could sit down and actually hash out a pretty good model to predict the resulting effect in the homicide rate certain factors like population size, " " density, average weather, unemployment rate, and illegal drug/arms trades that happens domestically.
Dont know the answer either. You will never be able to get an agreement on direct comparison as every city will have it differences.
Lets wait for the statistician to chime in and tell us we are all wrong.
"with more human interaction which comes with higher population numbers, the greater the likelihood of violent interactions"
"Lets wait for the statistician to chime in and tell us we are all wrong"
Well, luckily, you didn't have to wait long. The statisticians at the FBI have done a study of that very thing, and their findings were reported in the Journal of Criminal Justice in 2002.
theipti.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/covariance.pdf
If you don't like your maths, it might not be your thing, but the most relevant pages (to me at least) are 4 and 5, and in particular, the relationship between population size and violent crime rate (in cities in the US).
To boil it down to a single sentence...(by all means read the whole article if it interests you)...
The violent crime rates grew as population size increased in cities up to 250,000 people (these were the cities with the most violent crime per person) and then dropped off again significantly in even larger cities; AKA ⇒"Cities with under 100,000 people, or conversely over a quarter of a million people have significantly less violent crime than those with a population between 100,000 to 250,000." (My quotes, not theirs)
Where are those cities in the US?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
Rank that data table by population size and, according to the FBI at least, you'll know where not to live!
I see Fargo makes the list.
Of course, that is only a single variable analysis, so can probably be challenged by a multi variable analysis that shows population size to be less relevant compared to variable, A, B, C....etc.
The FBI may not have the money for that; that kind of analysis can not only take generations, but a doctorate in statistics to begin to understand, which I for one can't.
Anyways, just thought you might be interested,
No evidence is not evidence of the negative case.
Just as logical to argue "having NO GUNS deters crime 100% of the time no crime is committed".
Like 90% of general purpose Gerber/Kershaw/etc pocket knives have a little bit of spring assist to help opening one handed. That a lot different that an OTF Microtech "switchblade" spring blade.
I hope this ape rots in prison for at least a few years of what he has left in his pathetic existence. He’ll get tough with someone inside, and they’ll do what needs to be done. Put him down.
What a f*cking coward. A boomer if I’ve ever seen one.
someone call @PheonixJones for the mutual combat rules, I dunno.
these trails dont seem worth fighting over, let alone stabbing
anyone remember the old guy who stepped to the territorial mountain goat and got rammed off a cliff to his death? vim and vigor i tell ya!
But there are no knives in the forums, so why not have everyone furiously argue about nothing - good practice for real human interaction.
P.S. if the hiker had a better story, the lawyer would have told it.
This discussion and a recent experience w/ hikers on a bike-specific trail in corner canyon last week remind me to put my timber bell back on... and i guess i need to use it on bike-specific trails too.
Of course the post was taken down after Drake was arrested. Unfortunately every time a new post goes up on Next Door about this conflict it seems to get taken down (links to newspaper articles included). The confirmation bias for the anti cyclist crowd drives me crazy. I wish that stuff would live on the internet forever...
...like Pinkbike comments.
Not entirely true that you can't carry one in the UK. You can carry a small folding knife (up to 3" blade length, has to be folding, not spring loaded and not one of the banned types e.g. balisong, disguised etc.) in public in the UK. A Swiss army knife in your pocket is fine.
As for larger knives, the law says you can't carry them "without good reason" so while it might be harder to justify on a short and easy day hike, I will definitely always carry a proper knife on multi day hikes with camping. I hope that's "good reason" enough for the authorities if I ever have to explain myself.
[edit] @gkeele was quicker
"If you argue with a strong person, you risk a fist in your face.
If you argue with a weak, you risk to be stabbed".
what a complete tool.
It just also happens to be a shared multi-use trail (two direction) for other trail users.
But I said it "is" the climb trail for bikes, as the only real mountain bike trail there, is a one way (downhill), black rated trail that comes off the top of the 1800ft climb.
This story is so strange and unfortunate. Every hiker (young or old) I have encountered in this region is very polite and friendly to bikers.
- in a multi use trail when the biker goes uphill
- in a multi use trail when the biker goes downhill
- in a biking trail when the biker goes uphill
- in a biking trail when the biker goes downhill
I think the direction of the hiker doesn't matter.
One person suffered stab wounds and nerve damage, and another person is staring down felony charges. Not to mention potential civil suits arising from this thing. And all over a right of way dispute? Sheesh.
Best to reserve judgement until more info is known, as it all sounds like the most ridiculous series of events to have ever happened. How on earth does a right of way debate end in a scuffle and a stabbing?!
I wonder if the irony of people jumping to further irrational judgements/conclusions has been picked up at all....
I can only assume that there was a tremendous amount of fear involved on everyone’s part, its really the only thing that I can think of that creates this situation.
As in a parallel universe the biker could have been 'someone else' wherein upon awareness of being stabbed (by said piece of sh*t) this inconvenient dust up would now have ratcheted up into the category of actual mortal combat.
Said piece of sh*t had better finish the job because from that point forward - 'someone else' would attempt to inflict grievous injury on said piece of sh*t - and would well be within his/her rights to do so. You never know who might have been the inspiration for that movie "A History of Violence"...
Hard to find impartial jurors if they have all read about the case details in the media before it is presented to them in a courtroom.
Anyway, hopefully justice will prevail.
People f*cking suck.
I have definitely ran across those that are annoyed or respond with unfriendly quips as well. It's not the norm but it happens.
I also run into a lot of dimwitted mountain bikers that don't understand the concept of right of way too. When the trails got crowded last year trail behavior got really shitty. I barely touched north foothills because of it any more.
One incident I dealt with was a group of hikers along a narrow ridge. The last hiker didn't want to let anyone pass her. But everyone in our group was nice about it and passed the hikers when the path widened. We carried on. On our way back, we met up with the hikers again. But this time, the lady was actually nice and gave me a push up the long hill back up. We all had a laugh about it. Everyone was happy in the end. However, if anyone of us decided to do something about the lady that didn't want to let us pass at the beginning, who knows, our whole riding trip may have turned for the worse.
One time I had a hiker (60-70) how push me out of the trail while I was waiting him to pass by,totally stop both feet on the ground. The rider behind me was a Firefighter(very big guy) and had an argue with the old lad till he said me sorry like a 4 year old children. At the end it was a funny thing,they old guy got his face red exposing his stupid act.
By the way,love when random hikers cheers you like in a WC run!
Ive seen n been subject to hikers grabbing bars before, and brandishing / swinging weapons. They are in suprisingly large part a nasty bigoted bunch. Alot harder to imagine a cyclist ramming hiker while going up rooty hill than it is to imagine hiker grabbing bike.
I've been on this trail. It has some wide areas where you can comfortably pass others and many narrow portions, some of which there is really little space to step aside. When I go on a wilderness hike I carry a knife; not for stabbing people but for defense and survival reasons. I also carry survival clothing and matches/lighter.
I live on my bicycle, I've toured down the West Coast, a month in Thailand and other shorter multi day rides out of the Portland, Or. area. I don't mountain bike at age 70, but those times I am on a shared path I give others a wide berth. Why? Because when I'm on a bike i'm at the bottom of my rights to the trail compared to horses/walkers. If I was in a situation where I'm telling a walker or a horse rider that they "have to get out of the way", then I'm basically out of control and shouldn't be on the bike!!
I don't know what exactly happened on the day of the incident. Maybe Dake lost his temper and acted out and deserves criminal charges; maybe the rider was on top of him and Dake had legitimate fears for his safety. I don't know. I'll wait for more information. Regards
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUnP1OT3uW8
Did the guy slaughter a waitress with a machine gun who risked his life by delivering an undercooked burger later that day? Still self defense right?!!!
From the few details here it doesn't look good for the hiker, but I'm glad there's video evidence and witnesses. I do trust the legal system, so it'll be interesting to see the verdict. Fact is, if a 'right of way' conversation ends in physical injury, everybody loses anyway.
It is appalling to see two grown ups who not only cannot deescalate, but also escalate so quickly. Stabbing is uncool mmmkay, but I have little pity for that old prick who got stabbed. Right of passage, world is not the bridge of Khazdan Dun. Getting along is a rather good thing to do no matter what you are doing... This is why I will never tell me kids to respect the elderly any more than other people. They can be just as stupid as teenagers, especially males. I know a few teenagers who are smarter than my dads friends. There’s a special place in hell for territorial old dogs.