May 19--Lansing School District 158 board member Chuck Taylor has been charged with misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property after an altercation with a motorcyclist, police reports show.
Shortly before 8 p.m. on May 6, officers responded to a report of an accident without injuries at 2415 Thornton Lansing Road, police said.
At the scene, a 54-year old motorcyclist said he was cut off on the roadway by a 2014 Ford Explorer driven by Taylor, 42, who subsequently called him sexually derogatory terms, reports said.
The motorcyclist said Taylor stopped his vehicle in the middle of the roadway and "exited to yell at him," police said. The motorcyclist told police he pulled up next to Taylor on the sidewalk and they argued. The motorcyclist then made a U-turn in front of the parked car to leave, at which point Taylor stepped in front of his motorcycle, grabbed him and pushed him off the bike, the man told police.
The motorcyclist refused medical attention.
Taylor countered that the motorcyclist was on his cell phone and swerving, according to police. Taylor drove around the motorcyclist and stopped his vehicle once they crossed Torrence Avenue.
Taylor said he got out of his car and began yelling at the motorcyclist, who had driven onto the sidewalk, police said. Taylor said the man made a U-turn in front of his vehicle, "drove towards him" and struck him in the arm with the windshield of his bike, reports said.
The motorcyclist's windshield was smudged with fingerprints on it, "consistent with (the motorcyclist's) story," police said.
Taylor is 6'2 and weighs 250 pounds, according to the police report. The motorcyclist's size is not known. He was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle, reports said.
Taylor was released after posting bail, and the case is pending.
Reached via email about the charges, school board President Bob Wood said, "Personally, I believe that our nation maintains the standard of 'innocent until proven guilty' for any citizen for any charge."
The arrest was not discussed at the May 18 school board meeting. Taylor declined comment to a reporter before the board went into closed session.
gpratt@tribpub.com
