Deliberately run over by a car and then arrested - what an exciting day!

So this loon in a yellow Dodge was yelling at cyclists to get out of the way on E3rd st because both sides were double parked and there was only a narrow gap. He got right up to the back of me and nudged me with his fender, to which I yelled "wtf, are you nuts" or something along those lines. Much yelling of "eff you I'm gonna eff you up" from yellow Dodge. At the next intersection he stops at the lights, and as I pass to get in front of the traffic, I glance into his car and see a baseball bat coming towards me - he's shoving it out of the window to knock me off my bike. So instinctively I swatted it away, and there's a crashing sound. His side mirror, taken out by his own bat. I hear "I'm gonna KILL YOOOOOOOU" over the sound of spinning of tires, so I blasted off and took a right turn up Mercer St the wrong way figuring he wouldn't chase me against the traffic. Wrong!
 
I hear the sound of screeching tires as he comes around the corner and accelerates full speed up Mercer toward me. I had one last look over my shoulder just in time to see that I was about to get creamed, full on, by this yellow Dodge. Next thing I know I'm flying through the air desperately trying to edge myself to the right so that I wouldn't go under the wheels. And then I'm skidding and rolling over the asphalt getting some serious road rash on my arms and legs. The bike (a CitiBike share, phew!) wedged under his fender. Many witnesses. And he still jumps out of the car yelling and screaming that I broke his mirror. By this time it was hardly worth pointing out that he broke his own mirror.
 
NYPD arrives, and in their customary kak-handed way, arrested both parties. I got desk ticket for criminal damage since the guy made a complaint that I smashed his mirror, and he was locked up on more serious charges. Not, however, attempted murder, which it was. Then I spent 3 painful hours in the precinct, handcuffed to a bench, as the slowest cop in the world filled out reports which he typed with one finger, stopping to show everyone who past the room photos of his grandkids that someone had just texted him. 
 
Reckon I should contest the ticket? 

 
Das all I got!

Oh yeah, next time bring your own bat to level the playing field.
 

bapu
Oh yeah, next time bring your own bat to level the playing field.
 

You're not allowed to defend your life with a weapon in NYC, it's a big no-no...
 
And as I pointed out to the cop, if he had tried to run a member of the NYPD down then he would have gotten a face full of bullets. If he'd survived that, he'd have been hit with attempted murder of an officer. But since I'm just an ordinary peon and not a member of the ruling elite, it's "don't defend yourself" and "the most he's getting charged with is vehicular assault." 

Bhav
I dont know about US law, but if you were detained in a cell for that in the UK you would likely be every police misconduct solicitors wet dream.
 
If you were just taken in for questioning / info gathering, probably not much you can do.

Wasn't detained in a cell though, merely handcuffed to a bench 

Actually I have a feeling they're going to throw it out of court once I explain what happened and when they hear the full details of what an utter loon this guy is
 

BobF
Next time bring a gun to the bat fight.

You must have missed the part where the police get the situation all wrong and handle things ass-backwards Bob. 

craigb
You're actually questioning whether you should contest this???  Wow.
 
In court, simply ask the other guy to explain HOW you managed to break his mirror.  There's NO WAY he can give any answer that doesn't implicate him ("I was trying to hit him with a bat," "I was trying to pass him when there was no room," "I was trying to run him over," etc.).
 
Ask why in the hell you're even IN court (or were arrested in the first place) when you're on a bike and a guy is trying to run you over so badly that he was willing to drive the wrong way on a one-way street.
 
Man, I would get a lawyer and milk money out of this!  Heck, what a story for the news too.
 
You should be lucky you "only" got some road-rash.

Well, I guess he's probably going to try and say that I simply rode past and smashed his mirror with my fist or something. Luckily though, one of his charges is weapon possession (for the bat) so that part of the story is pretty much confirmed. 

emeraldsoul
Bummer! He likely has priors. I remember that line from "Barney Miller". That's pretty much the end of my legal advice.
 
Next, is he by any chance of dubious citizenship? Ice, Ice, Baby.
 
Most importantly, glad you are OK! That Citibike looks like a slow ride.
 
take it easy,
-Tom

I wouldn't be surprised if he has priors. 62 year old nut job from the South Bronx. 
 
The CitiBikes are actually a pretty sweet ride if you get one that's been maintained properly. I can get a good speed up on them. But you're not going to outrun a car on one. Man I know what it's like to feel hunted after today, looking over my shoulder and seeing that big yellow douchemobile literally inches away and about to make impact.....unsurprisingly, I thought my number was up. Didn't have anything trippy happen to me like my life flashing before my eyes though, which is a bit of a con. 

bitflipper

craigb
You're actually questioning whether you should contest this???  Wow.
...
Man, I would get a lawyer and milk money out of this!  Heck, what a story for the news too.
 

I'm with Craig on this one. Absolutely you should raise hell, and your first call should be to the NYT. Hopefully, it won't get thrown out before you at least have a chance to blast 'em with some righteous indignation.

 
Believe me, my first instinct is to raise hell, and I am going to give this guy one hell of a bad time in court. I'm also going to sue him. Not only for the pain I'm in right now but also because my absolute favorite pair of specs was smashed under his wheels 
 
The publicity I'm not so sure about though. Because you cannot trust the media to get a story like this right, especially with the NYPD's seemingly complete lack of interest in such things as accurate details. So there's every chance it will be reported as a "road rage fight," or that it "started when an irate cyclist broke a motorist's side mirror" or something. And then I have to face the prospect of my current clients and customers reading it and thinking, wow this guy's bad news. 
 

What a crazy story! Glad that you weren't seriously injured.

craigb

BobF
Next time bring a gun to the bat fight.

You must have missed the part where the police get the situation all wrong and handle things ass-backwards Bob. 

Yeah, well there is that.
 
At least James is physically OK. 

A)  I'm glad you're okay.  Cycling accidents can become very dangerous very quickly.
B)  Fight it! Fight hard.
C)  Jerks like that are the reason that my U-lock hangs off my left handlebar, in close reach.

Thanks everyone. And yeah, it really sucks that you're not allowed to defend yourself from attack in New York and other big cities crawling with deranged thugs. Of course the powers that be have armed bodyguards, so thank God they're OK 
 
I'm not a gun person and never have been, but at the moment at which I was struggling to get up and the a-hole was leaping out of his car to threaten me some more, I would have quite happily shot him in the face and would have felt 100% justified in doing so. 
 
And it's not just the self defense laws which are all screwed up in NYC. We have so-called "progressive" (i.e. stuck in the 1960's) judges showing leniency to dangerous psychopaths who then go on to kill innocent people. The cop I spoke to in the cruiser told me that the most frustrating part of their job is when they risk their lives arresting violent criminals with long histories of violent crime, only to see them released straight back out on the streets by judges who probably lie awake at night worrying about whether or not they've been too harsh on murdering gang bangers. Of course like the lawmakers, those judges often have armed protection, are able to get gun licenses themselves, and they live in high security doorman buildings and gated communities miles away from the neighborhoods which are terrorized by the thugs they show leniency to. Oh and they don't have to encounter them on public transport either since they're driven everywhere in cars with bulletproof glass.