AROUND THE REGION
Washington Post, October 20, 1994
Traffic was halted yesterday when dozens of bicycle couriers laid down their bikes in the middle of 14th Street and New York Avenue NW to protest the death of a courier who was struck Tuesday by a motorcycle as he pedaled through that intersection.
Paul D. Jensen was thrown nearly 80 feet after colliding with the motorcycle in the crosswalk, D.C. police said. The motorcyclist, Paul Reno Johnson Jr., 24, was not injured. Police said that no charges have been filed and that the incident is being investigated.
Jensen, 32, who lived in Mount Pleasant, had been working for a Kensington-based delivery company for about two months.
"I went down there so Paul, his spirit, doesn't have a bad memory of that street corner where he lost his life for no reason at all," said Sean Creamer, 32, a courier for nine years. He and the other couriers chanted, "Remember Paul. Show us respect."
Dozens of couriers also protested in front of The Washington Post building yesterday, saying they were angry about an article in which a police sergeant was quoted as saying about the couriers: "Some of them ride like crazy downtown. It's fortunate we don't have more people killed."
Bill Christeson, a courier for more than 10 years, said there was "nothing in the article that showed Paul did anything wrong. The Post is writing about us as if we deserve to be run over."
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at messvilleto@yahoo.com