Bob Novak Cited After Hitting Pedestrian

66-Year-Old Man Has Minor Injuries After Being Hit By Conservative Columnist's Corvette

(The Politico)  This story was written by Jonathan Martin and Chris Frates.

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Syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak was cited by police after he hit a pedestrian with his black Corvette in downtown Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning.

A Politico reporter saw Novak in the front of a police car with a citation in his hand; a WJLA-TV crew and reporter saw Novak as well. The pedestrian, a 66-year-old man who was not further identified by authorities, was treated at George Washington University Hospital for minor injuries, according to D.C. Fire and EMS. Novak was later released by police and drove away from the scene.

“I didn’t know I hit him. I feel terrible,” a shaken Novak told reporters from Politico and WJLA as he was returning to his car. "He's not dead, that's the main thing." Novak said he was a block away from 18th and K streets Northwest, where the accident occurred, when a bicyclist stopped him and said, "You hit someone." He said he was cited for failing to yield the right of way.

The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident.

As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.”

Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “The car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said.

He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street., finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blared and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over.

Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him.

Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”

A concierge at 1700 K Street said that she saw a bicyclist yelling and walked outside to see what the commotion was about.

"This guy hit somebody and he won't stop so I'm going to stay here until the police come," Aleta Petty quoted Bono as saying, as he stood in K Street, blocking traffic.

D.C. police confirmed that there was an accident at 18th and K streets NW at approximately 10 a.m. involving a black Corvette convertible and that the driver was a white male.

The intersection is in the hub of Washington’s business district and is filled with pedestrians who work in the law firms and lobby shops that line the corridor.

Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver, easily identified in his convertible sports car.

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Click here to see the Politico story and to watch video of Novak answering questions about the incident.

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In 2001, he cursed at a pedestrian on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets Northwest for allegedly jaywalking.

“’Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!’ Novak snapped before speeding away,” according to an item in The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column.

Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

Two years later, the same column reported that Novak had gone to a racing school in Florida.

"I've wanted to be a racecar driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that,” Novak said.

Anne Schroeder Mullins and Adrienne Smutko contributed to this story.

[ramos937]

As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.%u201D

Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. %u201CThe car is speeding away. What%u2019s going through my mind is, you just can%u2019t hit a pedestrian and drive away,%u201D Bono said.

He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street., finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blared and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over.

Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.%u201D He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him.



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Bob Novack has spent his adult life lecturing folks on how to live their lives. When his turn came, he failed the test.

[juliemd]

Old *** is lucky to get away with one citation...he must know someone at the DC police dept....

[barbaraf4]

Novak is old, senile and over-medicated. He needs to retire.

[rodeo555]

. . . he squirmed his way out of jail time relating to the Valerie Plame leak (his doing), and now squirmed his way out of a hit-and-run . . .
pathetic

[pr_boxer]

Novak''s driving is about as good as his political judgement.

[petesis]

Sounds like he was trying to get away. What is with that?

[jumkey]

Wow, I think this qualifies as felony hit and run. I hope he gets prison time.

Another classic conservative meme revealed for the lie it is: the "personal responsibility" nonsense. Conservatives don''t practice "personal responsibility", they practice not getting caught.

Luck for us Novak got caught.

[pr_boxer]

I hope the guy he hit is Bloods member, and got Novaks address

[thisandthat1]

After hitting him, the guy was up on his windshield and Novak says he didn''t know he hit him? What a lying POS! I hope they throw him in jail for this.

[pollroller1]

Just goes to show, if you are rich and connected, you can get away with about anything. If he had been just some regular person with out the connections, he would have been handcuffed and hauled off to jail.

[antoniof123]

Bob Novakacula a blood sucking moron can we please put him down like a rabid dog that he is.

[petesis]

This could be the start of his new career with FOX NEWS. He and William Bennett can talk about morality.

[misspp-2009]

Why isn''t this a felony hit & run? It would be for the average citizen.

[liberalme]

Clearly this is a liberal set up on Novak who was trying to get out of working for a living by getting an injury settlement from Novak. I sure hope Bush pardons him.
Posted by GOP_forever at 02:31 PM : Jul 23, 2008

Hahaha you have that bass ackwards--Look at the number of Repukes in Washington who "have not" been in the military---they have spent their lives sitting back letting others fight while they spew the orders.

[hbruss48-2009]

If a person is splayed on your windshield, and your response is, I didn''t know I hit him, is showing he is either to blind to be driving ( take his license from him, he can afford a driver )or he is just a plain LIAR. An every day Joe being caught would not result in the same manner. He or she would be given a place to sleep and 3 squares with an excersise yard Ihe special treatment given to Novak is totally wrong.

[liberalme]

So, you better watch your back as you cross a street, or travel the Road of Life - are a LOT of Novaks out there.

Novak is to journalism what Rove is to politics.

[newsjunky5]

"Wow, I think this qualifies as felony hit and run. I hope he gets prison time."
-----------------------------------

I predict this will blow up on Novak, as it should. DC has had a lot of pedestrians and bicyclist hit and runs lately, some fatal. It''s a very hot local issue there now. I can''t see him getting a pass on this, without a riot.
He already got some of Valerie Plame''s contacts killed. So I guess this is minor by comparison.

[newsjunky5]

"Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver, easily identified in his convertible sports car."
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I''ll keep that in mind next time I visit DC with a soda in my hand, "Fire in the hole!"

[harrydoghiny]

Sounds like hit-and-run to me. What do you bet nothing happens to him?

[sleepyric]

guy was probably wearing an Obama t-shirt!

[ioweign]

Another Boosh pardon on the horizon...

[noturbusns]

Felony hit and run. But like all of the felonies of the right wing machine, he will either not get prosecuted or will get a pardon.

Disgusting.

[ghostcommand]

Unbelievable, the compassionate conservative almost got away from a hit and run of an old man who had every right to cross the street on a walk signal. Novak does that to people who are not even in the cross walk. He hit and run Valerie Plame by exposing her as a spy for the USA CIA. She could have been assinated if she had been in a foreign country. It seems that almost every day in his columns Novak performs a hit and run on just about anybody or everybody that gets in his way of thinking--mostly Democrats. The police should have given Novak a breathalyser. I know he is drunk from drinking that Fascist cool aid.

[newsjunky5]

This sounds weird, but I feel sorry for all the people in DC who drive around in convertible corvettes and aren''t Novak. They''re doomed.
"Fire in the hole!"

[rltw175b]

hit and run - just like the GOP...

[zorar-2009]

Take away his vette & make him drive a used "YUGO"

[randynason]

Whether writing a story or driving his car, it seems Mr. Novak doesn''t play fair, whatEVER he is doing. I wouldn''t want to have to deal with his particular brand of upcoming karma, frankly. Hit and run, no less.

[zorar-2009]

He''re a typical conservative better than everyone else attitude just like Cheney: "Novak explained to the paper": "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don''t run the country, all I can do is yell at ''em. The other option is to run ''em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

[nextgenman]

This is why you never let people over 70 drive cars or run for President.

[bobnjersey]

[Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street ... Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can''t hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: %u201CI didn%u2019t see him there.%u201D ]

bob ... you didn''t see him roll onto the hood of your corvette ... completely block your view ... and then roll off your hood and onto the ground? you didn''t hear the thud ... you didn''t care about the dent it likely put in your hood?

maybe you needed more time to construct your story ... cause this one isn''t all that believable.

[feedback3-2009]

The tragedy is that this idiot will never even be charged with his obvious crime although I''m sure he is telling the truth when he says he didn''t notice the guy "splayed across his windshield". If I hit Novak with MY car the only thing they''d have to do is count how many times I was tased.

[kittykatty2]

failure to yield? that''s ridiculous. and what the hell is that old coot doing in a dam corvette anyway?

[coco0331]

The pedestrian wasn''t named Cooper were they? Maybe his criminal party has changed their operations to make it look like an accident. Give him life in prison with bread and water.

[hasher471]

I have never liked Novac. But, when he went public with CIA-Operative Valeria Plame that real ticked me off. Just to get a story. Full well knowing it would put American and trusted informants lives in danger. Just to get a story. This guy has no morals or a heart.

[hungryman9]

This is why you never let people over 70 drive cars or run for President.
Posted by nextGenMan
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Check the records and see who has the most accidents. I live in Florida where there are a lot of old people but most of the wrecks are by young people.

[MonsterSound]

"The pedestrian who was struck by prominent Washington columnist and commentator Robert Novak is in worse shape than first thought, a hospital source tells ABC 7 News.
The victim, a 66-year-old man, appeared somewhat incoherent, said the source who had seen the victim. The man appeared to have casts on his neck and back."
from ABC''x WJLA news

[Fareed17]

I hope the victim of the Hit & Run will be OK. Mr. Novak dean of the Limbo/Hannity-Insanity, I,m Right and You are Wrong, journalism for dummies school, had to be chased down and apprehended by the good citizens (whinners) of D.C. He needs to be criminally charged and loose his drivers license, sent to anger management and driving school at minimum.

[sandy19731]

This is why you never let people over 70 drive cars or run for President.
Posted by nextGenMan
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Check the records and see who has the most accidents. I live in Florida where there are a lot of old people but most of the wrecks are by young people.
Posted by hungrymama at 05:20 PM : Jul 23, 2008
Yes, young people have more accidents but older people make up for it by having far more accidents with injuries and fatalities. More people die from older people driving than younger people driving.

[foxmulder33]

''Hey Novak! Learn to drive you [bodily ***]!%u2019

Someone, please take this idiot''s license away.

[stn_sage]

Let''s see! He''s cruising in his corvette, fails to yield the right of way, hits a bicyclist, the bicyclist lands across the hood in front of the windshield, and he---and here''s the best part---he DIDN''T see or know that he hit anyone!

Followed by the second best part---he then FLED the scene of his crime! And would have, if the bicycle hadn''t been placed in front of his vehicle; evidently, he didn''t want to damage his tires by running over the bike!!

Evidently, this is not the first time he''s assaulted others on the street with his vehicles! Not only should he be charged with more serious crimes but the city should be sued for failing to get this maniac under control!

At the VERY least, I''d say he ought to pay a heavy fine, have his license suspended for 6 months, be required to attend a driving class seminar, and complete an anger management course before the state let''s this maniac out onto the streets to chop down the next pedestrian/bicyclist who can''t get out of his way in time!

[RaferJanders]

After running a Gas Station for 5 yrs where are sales were at about 2 mill every 4 weeks, Drivers in there 70ies are like a bomb waiting to go off. America it is time to put the Raisins in the old folks home were they belong, They have done enough to screw up this country, Don''t worry when Mcain becomes president they can live on cat food and that will take all there money, So there will be a fire sale on Motorhomes and big Detriot cars, Raisins in Vettes, Sounds like a Punck Rock song

[tx_doughboy]

What a tool...

[idnnsg]

"Failure to yield" is getting off very lightly!

Why not add:

Leaving the scene of an accident
Hit and run
Reckless driving
Assault with a deadly weapon
Attempted murder
etc.

It is simply NOT POSSIBLE to hit someone with a car, causing them to fly up into your windshield, and not be aware of it, unless you are drugged completely out of your mind!

Novak should be in jail. (again!)

[summarex]

He hit the old guy.
He ran away.
Now he claims he didn''t know he hit him.
I am very disillusioned with him
and I won''t be listening to or reading any more
of his comments.

[stn_sage]

various comments
Posted by IDNNSG at 06:45 PM : Jul 23, 2008
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Excellent post. Your list of possible charges were what I was thinking to myself after reading the article!

In my locale, he''d probably get reckless driving, then leaving the scene of an accident OR hit and run.

[zerato-2009]

I cannot believe theya re not going to charge him with hit and run. YOu run over a person in your corvette and did not know you hit him. How ridiculous. Jail the dipwad

[kansas1946]

As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.%u201D

Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. %u201CThe car is speeding away. What%u2019s going through my mind is, you just can%u2019t hit a pedestrian and drive away,%u201D Bono said.
****************************

Bob Novak is a creep. Going by this eye witness account, and in fairness those can be iffy, there is no way someone can splay across your windshield and you don''t see them. Anyone else would be in jail for hit and run.

[newsjunky5]

We may just have to wait until he kills someone.

[newsjunky5]

Let''''s see! He''''s cruising in his corvette, fails to yield the right of way, hits a bicyclist, the bicyclist lands across the hood in front of the windshield, and he---and here''''s the best part---he DIDN''''T see or know that he hit anyone!
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Actually, he hit a pedestrian, the bicyclist stopped him by blocking his way. Not that that''s a defense.

[newsjunky5]

"He''s not dead, that''s the main thing." Novak said.
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Now there''s a defense.