Woman gets 5 years for ****y-trap attack on off-road motorcyclist

[James Burleigh]

SF Chronicle, Saturday, May 19: A woman convicted of using a ****y trap to bring down a motorcyclist on a remote road in the hills outside Los Gatos last year was sentenced Friday in a San Jose courtroom to five years in prison.

Donna Olsen, 47, was one of three people charged with stringing a taut rope across Loma Chiquita Road in unincorporated Santa Clara County that caught her neighbor, Robert Barnes, across the upper lip as he rode by with a group of friends.

The impact hurled Barnes about 30 feet from his motorcycle. The accident left him with 500 stitches, missing teeth and titanium plates in his head.

Another rider in his group suffered minor injuries in the May 6, 2006, incident; after he saw Barnes go down, he was able to slow before the rope was raised again, authorities said

Olsen's neighbor, Donald Bryant, 63, was also convicted in the attack and is awaiting sentencing as his attorney prepares a motion for a new trial, prosecutors said.

Edward Anderson, Olsen's longtime companion with whom she has two children, was acquitted at trial in December in a case that drew substantial interest among the motorcycling community and some environmentalists who oppose off-road vehicles in rural settings.

 

[evil_henchman]

I remember that and it serves her right though 5 years is a bit light IMHO. Not to excuse her inexcusable behavior but I'll bet the victim(s) had loud pipes. God knows I've been tempted.... :glare:

 

[twowheelnut]

Not enough. She should be hung.

 

[FJRandy]

Loud pipes or not, it's still attempted murder.

I hope she dies in there. ******* enviro-nazis.

 

[radman]

Not enough. She should be hung.

I'm hung. She oughta be shot. After 2 weeks of piped in 2 stroke music at 115 db.

 

[weekend rider]

They should use the same rope to hand the Bag. :assassin:

weekend rider

The dirt bike club that I belonged to had a rider killed in the same way. this was before I joined It was in the early 70's

and who ever owned land adjecent the in the area they were setting up for an enduro event strung up a piece of wire accross the road and one rider ran into it and killed him. It was in the El Dorado National forrest. I do not know what hapend to the person that strung the wire.

 

[evilmedic13]

She should get 5 yrs for abusing the ugly tree like she did! Add on the rest conurrently.

 

[Bounce]

She should get 5 yrs for abusing the ugly tree like she did! Add on the rest conurrently.

itym "sequentially" - it adds more time. concurrently decreased their stay because the sentences overlap.

you do know that the subject of this thread should be changed. i expected to see some ****ies when i read it.

 

[rockwells]

She got off waaay too light!

 

[chipset]

She got off waaay too light!

Well, let's see. She was on probation. Had prior offenses for cruelty to children. She knowingly put something on the road that she know could kill someone. Now, if I remember correctly, there were some teenagers that removed stop signs in Florida that caused an accident. Each got 30 years. 5 years seems like a walk in the park for a "model citizen" like her. Stupid *itch.

 

[motorgod]

and she'll still have that face....

 

[HaulinAshe]

First person view of what human decapitation really looks like, seems appropriate to me. She/they had to know they stood a good chance of killing a rider.

Had an guy put a wire across an opening to his field when we were kids. Friend of mine caught it first. Luckily it caught his helmet strap and only partially severed his throat before taking him off the bike. He wore a full face and the wire caught the chin bar first and then slid down to his throat. If it had been me in first slot, I only wore an open full in those days. It would have popped my top instantly.

As kids we were too scared to tell our parents that we rode through his field to get to the power line routes. So we lied about it and told his Mom that he got caught in a hanging vine.

 

[05fjrman]

They should force her to ride into a guy wire at 80mph, and see if she survives. ******* *****. Yeah, trees are worth more than human life.

 

[Rogue]

That sentence is far less than she deserves, but more than I expected. Face it, its not really a crime to murder a motorcyclist and she didn't succeed in her attempt to murder them.

Hell if she did it in Tennessee she could have had a highway named after her! In South Dakota you can murder a motorcyclist and get 100 days in jail!

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Don't think this was some environmentalist. She had no such cause. She's just mean. It amazes me that multiple people can get together with a plan like this and none of them decided it might not be a good idea.

 

[mdisher]

Yes, way too light...

But then again OJ walked so not much surprises me on the left coast anymore.

 

[greg97224]

BIG +1

 

[Scuba]

When I was a kid, in upstate NY some guy went to prison for a long time for stringing up wire across some trees on his property where some snowmobilers had been cutting through. Decapitated one guy, I don't recall how badly the other was hurt. This incident reminded me of that. I don't know what goes through the heads of some people.

 

[James Burleigh]

Don't think this was some environmentalist. She had no such cause. She's just mean. It amazes me that multiple people can get together with a plan like this and none of them decided it might not be a good idea.

I think it was a nuisance / noise issue with her.