Friday, June 17, 2011, long-time Boulder resident Christopher Loven, 45, struck and killed a cyclist in Lefthand Canyon. Loven was driving westbound (uphill) and began making a left onto Olde Stage Road. He failed to yield to the cyclist, Eugene Philip Howrey, 73, who was descending Lefthand. Howrey collided with the right side of Loven’s Kenworth dump truck and was killed.
Soon after the initial incident, Boulder’s Daily Camera reported Loven had been involved in a road-rage incident involving a cyclist in 2009. Loven was convicted of a misdemeanor (reckless endangerment) after the cyclist/defendant and eye witnesses established he’d used his truck to force the cyclist into oncoming traffic — in the vicinity of Lee Hill and Olde Stage Road.
As the case garnered more attention, especially within cycling circles nationwide, yet another cyclist has come forward to report an altercation with Loven. Jim Mohan, 43, formerly of Boulder, but now residing in Baltimore, Maryland, was involved in an altercation with Loven in 2003, according to police reports.
Mohan and a friend, a former Olympian in cycling, Hugh Walton, 56, were cycling near 47th and Valmont when Loven ran them off the road, again in a large truck. Mohan and Walton were forced into a ditch — in which Walton crashed. Mohan remained upright and pursued Loven, catching him at an intersection. The two exchanged words.
“He was yelling at me, ‘You fucking cyclists, you think you own the road!’” remembers Mohan.
Mohan later moved in front of the truck to take down the license plate number and call the police. According to Mohan, at that moment Loven “slipped the clutch” on the truck, lurching towards him. Mohan fell backwards on his bike, landing on his back in the road.
He then demanded Loven exit the truck, which he did. The pair continued their argument and Mohan eventually threw a punch, hitting Loven in the face.
“At that point, he proceeded to beat the shit out of me,” Mohan says. “The guy’s 6’3″, 220 lbs!”
The police arrived moments later and broke up the fight.
Walton testified that as the police separated the two, Loven said, “You’re lucky I didn’t waste you.”
“The people who witnessed it,” explains Mohan, “All they saw was me throwing the first punch. We didn’t have any witnesses who saw him run us off the road or him popping the clutch in the truck.”
In court, Walton verified the sequence of events, but Loven had a friend in the cab of his truck who contradicted Mohan’s story. In the end, both Mohan and Loven were cited for public brawling and that was the end of it…until this summer.
“As soon as I saw the article, I recognized his name,” says Mohan. “Loven. He did the same thing to me and Hugh (Walton), but it was our word against his. The DA wouldn’t believe and now this happens.”
Requests for the accident report from the Colorado State Patrol have as yet gone unanswered, but I’ll post more information as I get it. I’ll contact the DA’s office to get the charges, if any, against Loven.
Loven is a graduate of Boulder High (class of 1984) and lists his higher education as the “school of hard knocks 2009″ on his Facebook page. He’s the owner of Power Earth Excavation and Septic Systems, located in Boulder.
As Boulder County has become more crowded, cyclist-motorist incidents have naturally increased. Accidents are bound to happen, but Christopher Loven has established a long history of negative incidents with cyclists. He’s now killed someone. I’ll get more details and see if we can’t share our thoughts with the DA and city government in an effort to both make sure Loven is charged appropriately and to ensure future repeat offenders don’t slide through the system…and end up “wasting” any more cyclists.
Stay tuned.
{ 11 comments }
What’s wrong with this man ? Times and places change . Our neighborhood of 30 yrs. suddenly had a ‘Deaf Child’ sign..that meant
be more careful , there was a child who could not hear the motor , or horn of a car .
So this man didn’t like cyclists increasingly riding his road ? It’s a change he evidently won’t accept .
Too bad this was not his third felony…I wonder if they searched hard enough , would they find 2 more ?
Thanks for quickly reporting on this. It’s an issue that surely needs the attention. However, the reason I’m commenting is actually due to my frustration that you cited his ‘higher education’ from Facebook no less. Why on earth did you feel compelled to include that? From the rest of the article, we get he’s a rough & tumble guy, so quoting something from Facebook just seems a low blow and honestly unnecessary.
Thanks Ann, for the comment. Let’s hope the system works on this count…
Leah–You might have a point. I didn’t, however, include the “hard knocks” comment to establish he’s “rough and tumble” guy as you say, but because it seems disingenuous on his part to be (supposedly) from the “school of hard knocks” when he grew up in Boulder. I’ve been in Boulder for 20 years and it doesn’t seem to me such a tough place…
That said, you’re right…it was snarky on my behalf. I found it self-indulgent and ignorant on Loven’s part…so I included it to give a glimpse into his own perception of himself.
I’ll leave it for now, but thanks for taking the time to think on it and share your view. Probably right–the article didn’t need it.
Thanks! Rob C
Hey Coppo , i remember this Story , Jim Told this guy was an Animal , and it sounds as though hes not going to Stop , Someone should go after this prick !!!
Wow, certainly seems to establish intent, dare I say pre-meditation? As stated above, I hope appropriate charges are filed. You should do a follow-up piece on whoever is regularly distributing tacks on High Grade and Parmalee Gulch roads in JeffCo.
Well maybe it’s advisable to have one member of you riding party carry a side arm.
If you’re riding alone the you carry one.
Be sure you are properly trained in it’s use, to protect yourself and other innocents
from brutal killers who use cars and trucks as deadly weapons !!
The driver’s facebook page for folks who’d like to friend him.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000305162736
How did you get into his FB page?
Hi Diana,
I didn’t get “into” his FB page…if you search on his name, you’ll see the page from which you can request to be his friend. On that page he has limited information, which I reported in the article.
Mike–a side arm?! I remember meeting South African cyclists who carried small handguns…. Cyclists or motorists carrying guns sounds like total disaster. Watch out!
KC–I’ve heard about the tacks up there. The Golden Gate Canyon community has long been hostile to cyclists, too. Sadly, there are plenty of stories like this, nationwide…
Thanks all for the comments! Ride safely and stay tuned for more details,
Rob C
I’ve been carring a side arm for 35 years, never had a proplem.
You know many people have them in their cars to protect themselves,
as well as cycleists.
Remember: Criminals prefer unarmed victims 10 to 1 !!
Hey Mike,
I’m not sure how motorists would know if a cyclist was armed/unarmed…it seems to me if there is going to be a problem, it will occur before the driver knows if the cyclist is “armed.” Me? I’m going to stick with riding cautiously and spending more time on dirt roads these days. The reality of a) living on the Front Range and b) living in the US is too many people and too many kooks with guns. Watch out!
RC