Unusual Attacks

[ogopogo3]

This woman is a pain in the ass

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55277,00.html

Woman Accused of Cutting Off Man's Buttocks

Thursday, June 13, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A woman enraged at her boyfriend attacked him with a utility knife and cut off nearly all of his buttocks, leaving him near death on a dark, rural road, a prosecutor said Thursday.

The injuries were so severe investigators initially believed the victim was sexually tortured and dragged behind a car in a possible hate crime.

The man has not fully described what happened to police, but they said they believe his girlfriend acted alone. She was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted murder.

"The gruesome nature of the injuries is almost mind-boggling," said District Attorney Chris McCool. "With the trauma of the attack, how do you talk about that?"

Kimberly King, 26, of Aliceville was jailed without bail. "This ain't right," she told a TV news crew as she was arrested.

King did not yet have a lawyer Thursday.

King and her boyfriend had been at a bar in Mississippi late Saturday or early Sunday, McCool said. They left separately after an argument.

Police said she pulled up behind his vehicle on an isolated highway near Aliceville, and began stabbing him with a large knife. When he fell, "she got down on him and just started cutting," McCool said.

The victim, Rodney Outlaw, 25, regained consciousness some time later, and drove about nine miles to the nearest home. He remained hospitalized Thursday.

Aliceville is about 80 miles southwest of Birmingham.

 

[Beakmoo]

Us Brits have always been amused at how you Americans threaten to "put someone's ass in a sling", or "fry their ass in oil", none of us though ya'll actually meant it literally! :eek!!!!: :cross eye

 

[Anonymous]

I felt my buttocks schrunching up as I read it. Must have been so painful.

 

[Anonymous]

I have always thought Americans had a fixation with donkey's with all this "ass" bit.

 

[ogopogo3]

Soccer sure brings out the best in people

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4783438^13762,00.html

Kids' coach kicks own goal
July 27, 2002

A QUEENSLAND soccer club has been forced to apologise after using a homeless man for target practice.

A New Farm coach and several players in his under-13 team were seen kicking balls at the man during practice as he lay, apparently unconscious, in the club's grounds.

New Farm Soccer Club president Mark Whiting said coach Steve Hensler made an "error of judgment".

"He didn't instruct the boys to kick balls at the man," he said yesterday.

"They followed his example. It was a bad example at the time."

The homeless man, known as Grant, is a regular in New Farm Park. Mr Whiting said club members regularly "fed and watered" him.

"He often asks for a hamburger or soft drink and we give that to him," he said.

"There was no malice or intention to injure. We do care for the community. We are a community club."

The club's committee met earlier this week and "will be making a formal apology", Mr Whiting said.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Odd and/or out of character attacks.

Farmer 'held vet's head in slurry'

An angry Cornish farmer threatened to kill an animal health inspector and held a female vet's face under inches of slurry where she could not breathe, a court heard on Wednesday.

Roger Baker, 61, ran at inspector Jonathan McCulloch and government vet Susan Potter during a visit to his farm at Ventongimps, near Truro in Cornwall, last year, Taunton Crown Court was told.

The court heard that Mr Baker, who farmed two plots of land near the village, appeared "from nowhere" on 25 February to attack the two officials in his slurry-filled farmyard.

He first grabbed Mr McCulloch, who works for Cornwall County Council, dragged him across the yard by his overalls into the slurry pit, the jury of eight men and four women were told.

Grabbed by neck

As Mr McCulloch shouted for help, Mrs Potter, who was attempting to capture conditions on the farm on her video camera, stopped filming, the jury heard.

She waded in to try to rescue Mr McCulloch, but was then attacked herself, the court was told.

Prosecuting barrister Michael Brabin QC said: "Mr McCulloch was grabbed by the neck, he was manhandled and Mr Baker then tried to drag him to the centre of the mire.

"Mrs Potter turned off the video camera at that point and went to help. As she did so, Mr Baker turned his attention from Mr McCulloch to Mrs Potter.

"He grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to the ground and dragged her to the mire and tried to drown her, or that was her impression.

Threats denied

"He had his hand against her face and pushed her into the slurry."

She was covered in the wet substance, he said, a combination of mud, animal faeces and urine.

It was then, the prosecution alleges, that Mr Baker shouted to Mr McCulloch: "I am going to kill you as well."

Mr Baker, who lives in a caravan on his land, denies making threats to kill Mr McCulloch on 25 February and also denies a second charge of affray.

The court was told how the two officials were on Mr Baker's premises after a call from a concerned member of the public who feared Mr Baker's animals were being maltreated.

The case continues.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/cornwall/3416677.stm

Published: 2004/01/21 15:42:06 GMT

© BBC MMIV

 

[stonedog3]

Is the first one out of character?

If (unproven) the chap was cruel to animals, is this part of the same attitude?

Hmmmmmnnnnnn.. sounds less convincing then before I typed it.


Kath

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

stonedoggy: I'd put that firmly in the odd category

Although I suppose it could be common amongst folk from Cornwall

~runs away like the devil is behind him~

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Bizarre Violent Attack, 3 Injured including a Child

LOS ANGELES — A man who beat two women and bit, cut and dislocated the jaw of a 14-month-old girl was arrested, police said today.

The toddler was taken to Cedar Sinai Medical Center, where she was in stable condition, said Det. Kenneth White of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Station.

Firefighters arriving at the apartment building in the 3600 block of Adams Boulevard about 10:45 p.m. Sunday were met by a bloodied woman fearing for the life of her child, White said.

"She was hysterical and saying, `He's going to kill my baby,"' White said.

The man was found on top of the bloodied child in an upstairs apartment along with a woman, his wife, who was trying to free the child, White said.

The man was restrained and taken to Midway Hospital Medical Center, where he was sedated, said White who added that he may have been on drugs.

The mother of the baby as well as her sister, the other woman in the house, were treated for lacerations to their bodies, White said.

The man was booked for attempted murder and mayhem, White said.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/012604_nw_violent_attack.html

Emps

 

[dot23]

Re Emps 1st post, anyone who lives in a place called "Ventongimps" has got to be barmy :eek!!!!: . What language is that anyway, Vietnamese?

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

I'm going to tear your leg off and beat you with it

dot23: LOL - its a great name isn't it?

Man charged with attacking neighbor

Police charge Fredericksburg resident with assault, theft

By KARI PUGH


Date published: 2/20/2004

A Fredericksburg man has been charged with yanking off a neighbor's prosthetic leg and beating him with it during an argument.

Authorities say the fight started when the victim, Michael Clapp, 38, discovered a bottle of medicine missing from his Townsend Boulevard apartment Wednesday night.

Clapp suspected his neighbor, 27-year-old Rodney Prophitt, and went next door to confront him around 7:15 p.m., city police spokesman Jim Shelhorse said.

When he did, police say, Prophitt knocked Clapp to the ground, then pulled off his artificial leg and struck him with it several times.

"At some point, Mr. Clapp was able to grab his leg back, get back to his apartment and call 911," Shelhorse said.

Police charged Prophitt with felonious assault and petty larceny.

Clapp was treated at Mary Washington Hospital for a broken nose and other facial injuries. Shelhorse did not know what type of medication was taken or why Clapp has a prosthetic leg.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2004/022004/02202004/1272098

Emps

 

[Anonymous]

stonedoggy: I'd put that firmly in the odd category

Although I suppose it could be common amongst folk from Cornwall

~runs away like the devil is behind him~

Emps

lol... i dont know really..theres a few liveing in fields etc and often barking mad... he seems madder than most and by the look of his animals on telly, hes not capable of looking after a budgie....ventongimps i think is cornish, and means venton (or fenton) which is Spring...gimps on the other hand i dont know..

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

~sneaks back in~

Feb. 24, 2004, 4:38PM

Barbie-wielding man stalking neighborhood

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Pasadena police are looking for a masked man knocking on doors while carrying a Barbie doll.

The man, clad in black clothes and wearing a ski mask, knocked on a woman's door in the 6700 block of Tamar about 9 p.m. Sunday. He didn't say anything but continued knocking while waving a Barbie doll. Finally he left.

A neighbor told officers a man wearing a black mask waved a Barbie doll in front of her peephole early Friday. He fled over her backyard fence when she answered the door, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pasadena Police Department at 713-477-1221 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2417158

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

After chase, large guy brandishes a tiny dog

February 27, 2004



After leading an Oakland County sheriff's deputy on a high-speed chase Thursday, a burly contractor got out of his pickup and attacked the officer with his tiny French poodle, swinging the dog on his leash.

"I've seen people ram cars. I've seen people fight," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. "But to take a poodle on a leash and make it a weapon -- that's a new extreme in bizarre behavior."

The 5-foot-8, 226-pound suspect, a 37-year-old Shelby Township man whose name was not released by police, was arrested in Oakland Township and is likely to be be arraigned today. He was taken to North Oakland Medical Centers in Pontiac for psychological observation.

He faces five felony and two misdemeanor counts. Police said he rammed the deputy's car with his pickup before swinging his pet.

The dog was taken to the Oakland County Animal Care Center in Auburn Hills and was fine, police said.

http://www.freep.com/news/locoak/eyelp27_20040227.htm

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

COUPLE TARGETED IN BIZARRE PAINT ATTACK


A VANDAL wreaked havoc on a disabled couple's home in a paint attack which left their windows covered in black paint and smiley faces.


Harold and Mary Burton, of Tombridge Crescent, Kinsley, say they fear the vandals are targeting disabled people in the area after the attack on February 16.

Mrs Burton, 58, said: "It was just awful. We don't know why it happened. Someone came along in the night and covered the windows and front door with black bitumen paint.

"None of the other houses near us had been targeted. We are both registered disabled. My husband is recovering from a heart attack and a stroke and to do this is really disgusting."

The horrified couple immediately contacted the police and council.
Mrs Burton said: "The police were good – they came out immediately and checked for fingerprints and footprints. But we don't really know why it happened. It's baffling.

"We only moved here in September because our old house was going to be demolished. We don't know of anyone who would target us."

Council workmen visited the house on Tuesday and blasted off the black paint.

A police spokesman said inquiries were still ongoing and anyone with information should contact them on 01977 601077.



27 February 2004

http://www.wakefieldtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=707&ArticleID=747507

They don't really follow up on the smiley faces - are they draw into the black paint?

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Pretty scary stuff - any chance we could throw away the key?

Attacker driven by bizarre obsession

AN OBSESSED dance teacher travelled 150 miles to beat a man with a baseball bat – then returned to South Yorkshire to indecently assault the victim's partner.

Violent Raymond Otto executed the bizarre attacks after becoming infuriated about the couple's growing relationship.

He was jailed for 12 years at Sheffield Crown Court by a judge who branded him a "cold, callous" man.

The court heard the nearly deadly chain of events began in March last year when Otto discovered where the woman lived.

He began to loiter at her flat in Wombwell, Barnsley, and managed to get a set of keys cut for the property.

In the early hours of March 13 he broke into the flat and stole her mobile phone, which contained the number of a man with whom she was forming a relationship.

The court heard the only contact the new couple had was in phone calls and text messages.

Otto, of Oakwood, Leeds, began texting the man, pretending to be his girlfriend.

During the trial it was heard Otto told the man to sleep naked and leave the door unlocked.

He also asked for directions to the house.

The defendant travelled to the man's home in the south of England, poured petrol around the house, then beat him over the head with a baseball bat as he slept.

The man chased Otto out of the house, who headed to Barnsley to attack the man's partner.

He let himself into the flat and indecently assaulted her before being scared away by her screams.

Otto denied burglary, aggravated burglary, wounding with intent and indecent assault.

He claimed he was not the man responsible for the attacks.
The jury took less than an hour to dismiss his claims and unanimously find him guilty on all four counts.

Sentencing Otto, The Recorder of Sheffield Judge Alan Goldsack QC said: "These were wicked offences.

"They reveal you as a cold, callous and revengeful man against anyone you believe has slighted you."

27 February 2004

http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=58&ArticleID=747609

 

[Anonymous]

Is the first one out of character?

If (unproven) the chap was cruel to animals, is this part of the same attitude?

Hmmmmmnnnnnn.. sounds less convincing then before I typed it.


Kath

the Ventongimps farmer was sentanced today to two years in jug... this is the ninth time (or 10th acording to the telly) he has been in prison always for cruelty or threatening behavour!.. nutter.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Part of a picture gallery at Yahoo (you should be warned that the piture is prety bloody):

Tue Mar 2,10:08 AM ET


Shiite Muslim child Mahmoud Slieman after his mother cut him with a sword during the annual ritual to mark Ashoura Day in the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, Tuesday March 2, 2004. Ashoura day marks the Shiite Muslim's commemoration of the 7th century killing of their most revered Saint Imam Hussein. Al Hussein was a grandson of Islam's prophet Mohammed and is a symbol of martyrdom for Shiites.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040302/481/bei11003021506&e=2&ncid=1778

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Web posted Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Senior citizen food fight injures 3

No charges filed in scuffle over lettuce at retirement home salad bar


By STEVEN N. LEVINE
[email protected]



WINTER HAVEN - A brawl at the salad bar at Spring Haven Retirement Community sent three senior citizens to Winter Haven Hospital Sunday.

Administrators say a 62-year-old resident who threw the first punch will leave the senior residence. All participants waived criminal action in the incident. No serious injuries were reported.

"This is the first time in 25 years I've ever heard of something like this happening," said a shaken Jill Andrew, Spring Haven spokeswoman.

According to police, the battle erupted after fellow diners accused the man of foraging among the lettuce leaves on the salad bar. Words were exchanged leading to the ballroom boxing match. Witnesses say the man punched an 86-year-old accuser in the face and bit a 78-year-old resident on the right arm.

The man's 80-plus-year-old mother told police that her son, "only likes a certain kind of lettuce." Others accused him of playing with the salad greens while inspecting the crop. His mom conceded, "that it did appear that he was playing with the food."

She was slightly injured trying to help her son during the struggle, police said.

The lettuce lecture was actually the last straw in a lengthy history of bad blood, Andrew said. At least one resident was injured when he was knocked to the ground by diners fleeing the battleground, according to police.

http://www.polkonline.com/stories/030304/loc_fight001.shtml

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Man arrested for attacking cabbie


By Joshua Robin
Staff Writer

February 29, 2004, 4:33 PM EST


What a heel.

A Chelsea man was arrested Saturday for allegedly hitting an off-duty taxi driver in the head last month with a high-heel shoe.

Carlos Sanchez, 32, of West 24th Street, allegedly got into a dispute with driver Barun Ghosh on a Greenwich Village corner shortly before 5 a.m. on Feb. 21 when the cabbie wouldn't take give Sanchez a lift.

Angered, Sanchez, whom police say is a transvestite, whacked Ghosh in the head several times with his shoe before fleeing the scene, police said.

Detectives analyzed video from a nearby camera that captured the incident and arrested Sanchez at his home.

A police official said Sanchez has dozens of prior arrests for prostitution and assault. There is no record of him on a state Department of Correctional Services directory.

He is charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He could not be reached for comment.

Ghosh, 37, of the Lower East Side, was listed in critical but stable condition Sunday at St. Vincent's Hospital. Police said the beating left him with slight paralysis to the right side.

Biju Mathew, of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said Ghosh remembers little of the incident. Mathew said customers frequently joust with drivers at the end of a shift, when hacks must return their cars to a certain location. "I'm glad the person has been arrested," Mathew said. "This is something that drivers face constantly."

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/bronx/nyc-heel01,0,334636.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-bronx

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Wife Reduces Husband to Tears

Thu Mar 4, 7:55 AM ET

AMMAN (Reuters) - A Jordanian woman knocked her husband out by hurling a tear gas canister at him during a domestic fight, Al Rai daily newspaper said Thursday.


The husband started shedding tears after he was hit and then blacked out. He was treated by medics.

Police were investigating the incident in the outskirts of the capital Amman, particularly the source of the tear gas canister.

The paper did not say what the couple had been arguing about.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...=1&u=/nm/20040304/od_nm/odd_jordan_teargas_dc

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

This is very odd - there is no obvous expalantion for his at all:

Web Posted Mar 18 2004 10:20 AM MST

'It's the most bizarre incident that ever struck our lives'

Carstairs - Alyce Francis still can't understand why two men picked her up by her ankles and dropped her on her head – after she gave them hot chocolate and muffins.

"It comes back in my mind and I'm trying so hard to get rid of it," the 92-year-old retired teacher said. "They grabbed me and I felt the blood rushing to my head. I saw stars and then I can't remember.

"If my life depended on it, I could not tell you why. It's the most bizarre incident that ever struck our lives."

The incident left her with a fractured vertebrae and the doctors have told her she won't walk for a few more weeks.

Her husband Reg, who stood helplessly by while the incident unfolded in a matter of seconds, says the two men didn't say a word.

The morning of March 3 began quietly, with two former students showing up about 10:30 a.m. and enjoying a cup of tea and hot chocolate and some muffins at the couples' kitchen table. There was talk of politics and a graduating daughter and then the men took a look at Alyce Francis' plants.

"They grabbed her arms, they took her up in the air, twisted her around and held her legs and her head about this far from the floor," Reg Francis said. "They dropped her and left immediatley and never said a word."

"No man, never mind a gentleman, would do that to a lady," Alyce Francis adds.

Carstairs RCMP Cpl. Conal Archer says he can't recall an incident as odd as this one.

"Throughout our investigation, we are continually surprised by what occurred there," he said.

Despite the upheaval in their lives, Alyce Francis says she must forgive.

"It was a heap of evil humped upon our lives..but it could have been worse," she said. "I find it very hard to forgive, but I know I must forgive."

Stuart and Ken Bell, 48, face charges of attempted murder, which their lawyers feel is over-charging. Both will undergo a psychiatric assessment and a judge will determine next month whether they will be released on bail.

http://edmonton.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ed_francis20040318

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

From the front page:

Man Thought He Was Running Over Bin Laden

Wed Mar 17, 8:15 PM ET


MONTPELLIER, France - A French artist allegedly traumatized by last week's Spain bombings was convicted of trying to run over a pedestrian he mistook for Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and ordered to pay the man 5.


The 35-year-old defendant, identified as Pierre, was sentenced Tuesday by a court in this southern France city to a three-month suspended prison term. The man he tried to run over was unharmed.

Pierre's lawyer, David Mendel, said his client was the "victim of a hallucination" while driving Monday through Montpellier's historic center.

The victim, a man in his 30s, was able to run from the oncoming car, which crashed along the side of a street.

"If it was (bin Laden), we would have won million," Mendel said, referring to a reward.

The Madrid train bombings, which killed 201 people, increasingly appear to have been orchestrated by Islamic extremists with links to bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...&e=5&u=/ap/20040318/ap_on_fe_st/not_bin_laden

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Restaurant Cook Gets Jail Time For Slashing Waiter

POSTED: 1:49 pm PST March 19, 2004
UPDATED: 1:58 pm PST March 19, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- A cook at the popular Manhattan Beach Reed's Restaurant has pleaded no contest to charges stemming from an attack on a waiter.

Prosecutors say Vicente Ramirez will be sentenced to five years in prison as part of a plea agreement.

He was convicted for slashing waiter William Ridgeway several times in an argument over tartar sauce.

Investigators say Ridgeway came into the kitchen and asked for tartar sauce, which Ramirez said he did not know how to make.

The attack came after Ridgeway reportedly replied,"You're the cook, figure it out."

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2936353/detail.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Church caretaker threatens ambulance crew

Horrified ambulance personnel were chased by a knife-wielding church attendant after responding to an emergency call in Skien. Police and a helicopter were called as the furious church caretaker chased the ambulance crew with a dinner knife, newspaper VG reports.

The crew received a call about a drug addict that had collapsed and was in critical condition. They arrived to the surreal sight of a young man sprawled unconscious on the ground of a courtyard, with the church caretaker sitting at a small camping table by his side, eating a plate of bacon and eggs.

When the medical crew approached the unconscious man, the diner sprang up from his meal and threatened to stab them. The berserk breakfaster chased one of the crew 50 meters as he kept the pair from treating the victim.

After being chased and threatened for 20 minutes the crew called for assistance and the church assistant was eventually arrested.

The church attendant, who was sentenced to 30 days and fined, turned out to have a long prison record and a history of alcohol abuse.

The court ruled that the 59-year-old assailant was "troublesome" and "unpredictable" but not a direct danger to life and limb. Since he was undergoing treatment for a serious illness the court gave him a suspended prison sentence.

At the same time, the 59-year-old was convicted on another charge, of false testimony, after he confessed to making up a story about a drinking buddy shooting at him.

His drinking partner had an alibi, having attended a pre-Christmas party at the Salvation Army when he was supposed to be taking shots at the church assistant.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=756673

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Man beats another in shushing incident

Milan man arrested following attack at Ann Arbor theater

Monday, March 22, 2004
BY AMALIE NASH
News Staff Reporter



A moviegoer was severely beaten after he shushed another man in the row behind him during a showing of "The Triplets of Belleville" at a downtown Ann Arbor theater Saturday evening, city police said.

The 51-year-old victim was hospitalized with multiple fractured ribs, a collapsed lung and several facial lacerations that required stitches, police said.

Paul Elrod, 38, of Milan, was arrested at his home that night and charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, police said.

The victim told police he and his wife were watching the movie at the State Theater at 8:30 p.m. when they were distracted by talking behind them. He said he turned and motioned for the man to quiet down, and then the man began coughing in his ear and kicking his chair, reports said.

The victim reported the man eventually spit on him and threw popcorn, so he got up, turned around and said, "Excuse me." The victim said he was punched in the face and thrown down the stairs and into a banister.

Police said the assailant then left the theater but was followed by a theater manager, who got his vehicle's license plate number, reports said. The manager said the man threatened him as he walked behind him.

Police said Elrod called a short time later and said he was attacked at the theater and defended himself, but he refused to return to the scene to speak to officers. After he was later arrested, he told police the victim came at him first, punched him and rushed at him, so he pushed the man and he accidentally fell down the stairs.

Elrod was arraigned Sunday on the felony charge and has a preliminary hearing March 31.

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1079970667207160.xml

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Bowling Ball From 17th Floor Narrowly Misses 3 Officers

By MICHAEL BRICK

Published: March 24, 2004



69-year-old man tried to kill three law enforcement officers by dropping a 16-pound bowling ball at them from the terrace of his 17th-floor apartment, police officials said yesterday.

The ball narrowly missed the officers, and the district attorney in Brooklyn charged the man, Douglas Stiff of East New York, with attempted murder, attempted assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.

The authorities said the motive for the crime was unclear. A 911 call was placed from Mr. Stiff's apartment at 9:22 p.m. Monday, reporting a robbery in progress, the police said.

Two police officers and a parole officer, on their way to track down a parole violator, diverted their mission and responded to the call. As they walked around the side of the building, a bowling ball thudded to the ground a few feet away, the police said.

The officers looked up and saw a man on a terrace on the 17th floor, law enforcement officials said. When they went up and knocked on Mr. Stiff's door, he answered it, wearing a pair of binoculars around his neck, law enforcement officials said.

The officers found a second bowling ball on the terrace, and arrested Mr. Stiff.

The police at first said Mr. Stiff would be charged with three counts of attempted murder, but the district attorney's office later changed that to two.

A spokesman said he did not know the reason for the shift.

The practice of throwing things at police officers from rooftops and other high places is somewhat common in New York, enough so that the targets have a name for it. They call it airmail. Even so, a bowling ball is an unusual piece of correspondence, the police said.

Mr. Stiff, who listed his occupation on a housing application simply as war veteran, lives at 109 Christopher Avenue, part of Glenmore Plaza, one of several housing projects in East New York, Brooklyn.

At Glenmore, signs exhort residents to become police officers, register their dogs and love one another.

Since moving into the project in 1988, Mr. Stiff has caused no trouble to speak of, except for playing the stereo a little loudly, an occasional offense that drew requests from neighbors to turn up his hearing aid, said Howard Marder, a spokesman for the housing authority.

Mr. Stiff was arrested in 1991 on weapons possession and assault charges, law enforcement officials said.

Darlene Samuel, 44, who lives down the hall from Mr. Stiff on the 17th floor, said Mr. Stiff was no big troublemaker.

"He was just happy, talked to everyone, singing," Ms. Samuel said.

Rob Brown, 41, who lives in the neighborhood and visited the project's management office yesterday, said he could not recall a similar incident. "I've heard of shoes and Pampers" being thrown, Mr. Brown said, but never a bowling ball.

The ball left a three-and-a-half-inch crater in the mud in a small garden beside the building. It landed just shy of a low metal fence that separates the garden from a concrete path, which is covered by metal construction shedding.

As a small clutch of reporters and photographers meticulously documented the hole yesterday morning, a group of firefighters passed by on the way to responding to a call of a heart attack.

"Maybe," said one firefighter, informed by a newspaper photographer of the reason the hole had drawn such fascination, "we should have our helmets on."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/nyregion/24ball.html

The report has a picture of the dent in the sidewalk.

Emps

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Ths one is a bit cheap but it amused me - I would have thought a 255 pound, cage ighing Harley salesman might want to keep quite about this:

Fitness Guru Simmons Cited for Slapping Fighter

Thu Mar 25, 5:19 PM ET


By David Schwartz

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Flamboyant fitness guru Richard Simmons was cited by authorities for allegedly slapping a 255-pound Harley-Davidson salesman who was poking fun at his exercise videos at an airport, police said on Thursday.


Simmons, 54, famous for his frizzy hair, glittery tank tops and exuberant demeanor, was ticketed for misdemeanor assault after allegedly striking the man across the face while in line at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Wednesday night, police said.


The confrontation occurred when the man, identified as Chris Farney, 23, recognized Simmons as the celebrity trainer was signing autographs and posing for pictures, police said.


"He (Farney) apparently said, 'Hey everybody, it's Richard Simmons. Let's drop our bags and rock to the '50s,"' said Sgt. Lauri Williams in a reference to Simmons' well-known series of "Sweatin' to the Oldies" exercise videos. "Mr. Simmons took offense and said he had to 'bitch slap' him."


According to the police report, Farney said Simmons told him, "It's not nice to make fun of people with issues" before slapping him on the left side of the face. Stunned, Farney walked away for a moment before contacting authorities.


Police described Farney as a 6-foot-1-inch sales representative for the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company who weighs 255 pounds and has competed in the spectator sport of cage fighting -- otherwise known as mixed martial arts.


He told officers he had no intention of hitting Simmons, who stands 5 feet 4 inches tall, because he "knew that he was much more powerful than Simmons."


Nevertheless, Farney told police he wanted to press charges against Simmons.


Police said Simmons cooperated fully with officers at the scene and later was allowed to board a plan to Los Angeles.


There was no immediate comment from Simmons' Los Angeles-based manager.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...62&e=1&u=/nm/20040325/en_nm/people_simmons_dc

Emps

 

[intaglio]

Bowling ball attack - the guy had obviously watched too many "Roadrunner" cartoons

Slapping a 255lb cage fighting Harley Davidson salesman is probably a suicide attempt

 

[PeniG]

Slapping a 255lb cage fighting Harley Davidson salesman is probably a suicide attempt

Nonsense. Let me introduce you to the reality of a tiny person's world, as so eloquently expressed by Miles Vorkosigan when he landed naked in a prison camp with a broken hand: "Nine-tenths of the people in this camp can break me in half, including the girls...It's not a significant consideration."

If anybody and everybody can beat you up, you stop being afraid of being beaten up. You realize that, if you're so obviously helpless, only a yellow-bellied coward would even try to beat you up. This knowledge gives you power that mere musculature and pugilistic skill could not.

There are three possibilities that leap out here. One, Simmons decided to show off for the fans, knowing that it was a win/win situation. They were in an airport, for crying out loud, and the fans and security would have stopped the guy before any real damage was done if he really had been insane enough to hit back. (In that case, Simmons is a bully and the cage fighter is kind of brave for standing up to ridicule and calling security on him.)

Two, the guy was being a really annoying jerk when a jet-lagged Simmons was trying to interact with his fans and he decided to stand up for all of them and put this guy, and symbollically all similar guys, in his place. (This is the clear intent behind the 'bitch-slapping' line, but there's no way to tell from the report how calculated that line was.)

Simmons's last headline wasn't big enough or recent enough and it was time to fix that.

A similar situation occurred here in town some years ago. The late Congressman Charles Gonzales, Sr., who has been a congressmen since the bad old days, was having a late night bite at Earl Abel's diner, the place you go when the bars close. The man at the next table identified Gonzales to his out-of-town guests as "our local communist," a very, very serious accusation in this area even post Cold War. Gonzales, who at that time was in his mid-70s, got up and asked him to step outside.

This put the guy in a lose-lose-lose situation. He could apologize nicely, except that he was one of those jerks who think an apology is a sign of weakness. He could go outside and get his name in the papers as someone who insulted and then beat up an old man. Or he could go outside and get beat up by an old man. As it happens, he chose to go outside and get his behind kicked. Possibly, next time he got the urge to mouth off in public, he remembered this epochal event and minded his manners instead.

This is exactly the sort of thing that Texas constituencies love, and you can't tell me Gonzales, old campaigner that he was, hadn't sized the situation up before he issued the challenge. He was in a win/win/win situation. I just wish I could remember the words to the rap the morning DJ made of the incident.

If you think of interpersonal violence solely in physical terms, you'll miss what's really going on.