Doctor gets 5 years in prison for road rage
Court Alerts
A former emergency room doctor who deliberately braked in front of two bicyclists, causing them to crash and suffer serious injuries in the road rage incident, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.
Christopher Thomas Thompson, 60, was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He was in tears as he apologized to the victims.
"The physical and mental scars are my fault," he said, telling them that he has recurring nightmares about one of the cyclists crashing through the windshield of his car.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Millington said he was concerned about a lack of remorse. The defendant was apologetic today, but remarks he made soon after the crash indicated otherwise, the judge said.
Thompson, who worked at Beverly Hospital in Montebello, has been jailed since he was convicted in November of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, reckless driving and mayhem.
Prosecutors say he had argued with the two cyclists before suddenly slamming on his brakes in front of them on Mandeville Canyon Road on July 4, 2008, causing them to crash and suffer serious injuries. One cyclist who went through the car window suffered broken teeth, cuts and had to have his nose reattached. The other cyclist suffered a separated shoulder after crashing to the pavement.
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